What's New

Publications

• "An inexpensive light-scattering particle monitor: chamber and field validations with woodsmoke"(Journal of Environmental Monitoring, 2007, 1099-1106 doi: 39/b709329m).
  
• "Speciation of ambient fine organic carbon particles and source apportionment of PM2.5 in Indian cities,"Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, 2007, 112, D15303, doi:10.1029/2007JD008386.
  

Talks

• Integrated & Real-time PM2.5 Concentrations in Kitchens, Bedrooms, and Outdoors in Highland Guatemala Using both Gravimetric and UCB Particle Monitor
  
• Partnership for Clean Indoor Air: Indoor Air Pollution Monitoring
  
• Partnership for Clean Indoor Air: Indoor PM2.5 and CO Concentrations Reduction from Improved Stoves Installation in Rural Northwest Yunnan Province, China
  
• Current Source Apportionment Studies in ASIA: An Overview
  

Poster Presentations

• Size Distributed Chemical Composition of Fine Particles Emitted from Burning Asian Coal
  

Laboratory

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GSPH Air Quality Laboratory Research Instrumentation

GSPH presently occupies five rooms in Hardy Memorial Tower dedicated to analytical, wet laboratory functions primarily for environmental-analytical work. GSPH houses an Air Quality Laboratory (AQL) with state of the art aerosol characterization, ambient air pollution monitoring and ambient particles and gas sample analysis equipment for supporting graduate and undergraduate student research. The GSPH laboratories enjoy strong university support and are able to upgrade existing instrumentation and provide a steady funding stream for new equipment to support the continued expansion of AQL needs. Housed within the original laboratories is a walk-in temperature and humidity controlled room used for weighing filters for air sampling. The laboratory also has a -20 C walk-in freezer and 2 -70 C freezers. The analytical laboratories are fully equipped with instrumentation suitable for a wide variety of air pollution applications: atmospheric heavy metals detection and quantification, bulk organic and elemental carbon analysis, and detailed organic compounds speciation. In addition, a Calibration Chamber Room allows for calibrating air pollution equipment with known aerosol concentrations. A list of air pollution equipment currently available to support student research is listed below:

Field Equipment

1. TSI Aerotrak, Nano Particle Surface Area Monitor (Model 3550) for measuring PM surface area (particle size 10-1000 nm).
2. Carbon aerosol analysis (Carbon Analyzer) from Sunset Laboratories for measuring EC/OC
3. TSI DustTrak for measuring real-time PM10, PM2.5, and PM1.0 both indoor and outdoor (3)
4. pDR-1200 with cut point cyclones (5) and passive/active pDR-1000 (13) for measuring real-time PM2.5
5. TSI P-Traks for estimating ultrafine particle concentrations (4)
6. Micro-Orifice Uniform-Deposit Impactors (MOUDI): Models 110 from MSP Corp. to measure size distribution of PM (0.056 to 18 m) on filters for later
laboratory chemical analysis (4)
7. DryCal Pump calibration setup (2) and numerous bubble meters and field rotameters
8. UCB Particle Monitors to be used for real-time personal as well as indoor PM2.5, Temperature, and Relative Humidity measurement (5)
9. TSI Q-Traks to measure CO/CO2 (3)
10. HOBO monitors to measure real-time CO (20) and RH/temp/light (20)
11. Field Athelometers: A 42 Magee Scientific with GPS for BC and particle bound PAHs
12. High-volume programmable Leland pumps (10) and hi-low SKC pumps (20), SKC low flow pumps (20)
13. Aerosol generating and monitoring devices
14. Harvard Impactors (PM10 and PM2.5) for gravimetric analysis
15. Filter holders, impactors, cyclones, tube holders, Anderson N6 impactors for bioaerosols
16. Microscope (Olympic fluorescence) with CCD camera and image analysis software

In addition, using existing funds, we are in the process of acquiring several TSI CNCs and the Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer (SMPS, Model 3936, particle size 10-1000 nm), and an Atomizer (Model 3079) for generating aerosols.

Laboratory Analytical Equipment

1. Agilent Induction Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometer for measuring trace elements from filters
2. Gas Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometer for measuring organics from filters
3. Dual-detector Gas Chromatograph with Purge and Trap
4. High Performance Liquid Chromatograph
5. Gas Analyzers.
6. Two Cahn microbalance C-35 (0.1 µg precision) to measure PM mass on filters
7. Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer
8. other laboratory equipment such as pH meters, balances, hoods, PCR, RT-PCR incubators (CO2 and regular)
9. 96 well format Spectrophotometer (variable wavelength)

In addition, many other analytical equipment is available across the SDSU campus, for example a LC-MS/MS located in the Chemistry Dept.

Computer laboratory for students

The GSPH operates its own computer facility housed in Hardy Memorial Tower on the SDSU campus. This customized computer laboratory, which is reserved for use by public health students, is equipped with 14 Pentium IV 2.8 GHz class computers linked to a Novell file server using a fast ethernet connection. All computers in the laboratory are connected to the Internet using 100 megabit per second fiber optics via the SDSU campus backbone network (SDSU-NET). The lab is also equipped with a laser printer and a Hewlett Packard flat-bed scanner. In addition to the GSPH computer lab, another computer laboratory is housed in Hardy Tower that houses 24 student workstations which are only available for scheduled classes.