Bio:
Yemi Sofowote is the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Park (MECP) Air Monitoring Research Scientist. He graduated in 2010 with a PhD in Chemistry from McMaster University after 5+ years of study with the late Dr. Brian McCarry and has been with the Environmental Monitoring and Reporting Branch of the MECP since then.
Yemi has worked on understanding the chemical composition of ambient pollution in Ontario, especially with regards to PM2.5 in areas and sectors of interest for the MECP. Lately, his focus has been on locations with heightened levels of air pollution concern such as Hamilton, Windsor, and pockets of Toronto. His studies focus on the use of real-world, air quality monitoring data for assessing trends and for source apportionment with receptor models. He aims to provide results that are helpful in understanding sources of air pollution in the province.
Yemi works collaboratively with scientists within and outside the MECP. As a journaling scientist, Yemi has currently authored and co-authored about 40 research articles. His collaborations with scientists in MECP, ECCC, HC, academia, and other colleagues within and outside Canada continue in the pursuit of developing more comprehensive and integrated receptor models to tackle ever more complex environmental challenges.
Abstract:
PM2.5 is a well-studied size range of particulate matter that can have severe health consequences even at low concentrations in ambient air, depending on its chemical composition. This necessitates the development of robust source apportionment approaches to help inform the design of effective mitigatory polices to control this pollutant. In Ontario, PM2.5 is regarded as a key air pollutant and is studied to determine its chemical composition at certain locations that are known areas of concern. This talk will focus on one such area, Hamilton, in the southwestern area of the province.
Ambient air quality monitoring in Hamilton
Hamilton is an industrialized city on the western shores of Lake Ontario in what is known as the Golden Horseshoe. It is home to two integrated steel mills and their associated industries, which are largely situated in the northeast end of the lower city adjoining the natural harbour. Topographically, the Niagara Escarpment provides a natural separation between the lower and upper parts of Hamilton that, in conjunction with Lake Ontario, strongly influence atmospheric circulation patterns in the city.
The Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) is committed to monitoring air quality in Hamilton over near-instant and longer time scales. Given air pollution concerns spanning the gas- and particulate-phases in Hamilton, the downtown core features one of the ministry’s most advanced air quality monitoring stations with instrumentation that are operated either solely by the MECP or in partnership with the Environment and Climate Change Canada National Air Pollution Surveillance (NAPS) program.
Updating our source apportionment for complex locations like Hamilton
Meteorology can have a significant effect on results from receptor modelling-based source apportionment. Also, certain industrialized locations can co-emit pollutants in the gas and particle phases. Yemi will share results of recent studies done at the Hamilton Downtown AQHI station using long-term, time integrated data in the gas and particle phases (jointly comprising VOCs, PM2.5 species and PAHs) for a comprehensive, combined-phase source apportionment of PM2.5 with approaches that attempt to account for the confounding effects of meteorology and chemical loss.