A multipollutant evaluation of APEX using microenvironmental ozone, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations measured in Los Angeles by the exposure classification project

Abstract

This paper describes an operational evaluation of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Air Pollution Exposure Model (APEX). APEX simulations for a multipollutant ambient air mixture, i.e. ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO), and particulate matter 2.5 microns in diameter or less (PM2.5), were performed for two seasons in three study areas in central Los Angeles. APEX predicted microenvironmental concentrations were compared with concentrations of these three pollutants monitored in the Exposure Classification Project (ECP) study during the same periods. The ECP was designed expressly for evaluating exposure models and measured concentrations inside and outside 40 microenvironments. This evaluation study identifies important uncertainties in APEX inputs and model predictions useful for guiding further exposure model input data and algorithm development efforts. This paper also presents summaries of the concentrations in the different microenvironments.