Assessing the impact on air quality and children’s health of
actions taken to reduce PM2.5 levels from wood stoves

PI:Curtis W. Noonan, Ph.D.

Abstract of Project Plan:

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the changes in children’s exposure and the impact on children’s health before, during, and after a community intervention project that will reduce PM emissions from domestic woodstove usage. In particular, exposures, reporting of symptoms, and school absences will be evaluated among school-aged children in Libby, MT over a period of three years. This community has high levels of PM2.5 during winter temperature inversions and currently exceeds the annual PM2.5 National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). Wood combustion is the single major source of PM2.5 throughout the winter months in Libby, contributing an average of 82% of the measured PM2.5. Over the next two to three years a woodstove change-out program will target approximately 1,200 uncertified wood stoves and 100 wood-burning boilers and furnaces in this community. This will provide a unique opportunity to prospectively observe changes in PM exposure and the impact of these changes on susceptible populations. In response to RFA 04-4, this study will include three aims to the health impact of regulatory-based actions taken at the local level to improve air quality. Aim 1 will prospectively measure ambient and school indoor PM2.5 levels preceding, during, and following the implementation of the community-wide wood stove replacement program to test the hypothesis that a wood stove intervention program will substantially reduce community PM exposures. Residential indoor PM2.5 measurements will also be taken for selected homes during and after the woodstove replacement program. Aim 2 will prospectively track respiratory symptoms and infections among Libby children (school grades 1 through 8) to test the hypothesis that intervention-driven reductions in PM2.5 levels will result in improvements in children’s reported respiratory health. We will collect children’s health data from periodic parental surveys. The third aim will prospectively track school absences to test the hypothesis that intervention-driven reductions in PM2.5 levels will improve school attendance. This study will have long-term implications for evaluating the effectiveness of intervention programs that target wood stoves, a contributing source to PM2.5 exposures in several areas of the country.