Granite City Research Articles

Elevated Particulate Matter and Noise Exposure for Spectators at Outdoor Motorsport Events

Since the first recorded steam carriage race in Manchester England, in 1867, motorsport racing has been a globally popular and commercially successful leisure activity. Enthusiasts enjoy a wide range of events, including Formula, stock car, motocross, drag, and many other styles. Despite the many environmental health hazards present at racing events, there have been no published exposure assessment studies for event spectators. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted noise and particulate matter exposure assessment at a series of auto and motocross racing events. Sampling was conducted from May to October, 2017 in designated spectator seating areas at two dirt auto racing tracks, a paved auto racing track, and a dirt motocross track in the St. Louis metro-east region, Illinois, USA, and in Sedalia, Missouri, USA. Using a TSI Instruments SidePak AM520 personal aerosol monitor, arithmetic mean PM2.5 concentration ranged from 51 to 86 µg m-3 across eight race events. Using a Digi-Sense portable sound meter, arithmetic mean noise levels ranged from 75 to 92 dB, and maximum noise levels ranged from 85 to 105 dB across nine race events. PM2.5 at individual race events was combined with 24 hr average concentration data from Illinois EPA’s Granite City, IL ambient air monitoring sites to obtain time weighted average estimated 24 hour PM2.5 exposure for race spectators. Based on these calculations, 24 hour PM2.5 for race spectators would be 1.8 to 3.5 times local background exposure. These values corresponded to EPA Air Quality Index levels of 63 to 92, falling in the Moderate category, which presents potential respiratory symptoms to highly sensitive individuals. Planned future data collection includes gravimetric sampling, and particle composition analyses. Our results suggest that despite the short duration of these activities, there are possible respiratory hazards from airborne particulate matter exposure for spectators with preexisting vulnerability.

97/02248 Production increase with high rates of natural gas injection at acme steel and national steel's granite city division

Supplemental fuels are injected at the tuyere level of blast furnaces to reduce coke consumption and increase productivity. These fuels include natural gas, coke oven gas, oil, tar, and coal. The economic benefits derived from supplemental fuel are of two types: (1) the reduction in costs of hot metal production arising primarily from decreased coke consumption, and (2) the value of the increased production of hot metal- and steel - that can be sold. Essentially all blast furnaces in North America inject supplemental fuel. Approximately 70 percent inject natural gas in the range from 80-210 pounds per ton of hot metal (lb/THM) or from 1,800 to 4,700 standard cubic feet per ton of hot metal (scf/THM). Currently, natural gas injection rates average 110 lb/THM or 2,500 scf/THM. The total amount of gas consumed in North American blast furnaces now exceeds 101 billion cubic feet per year (bcfy).

Can household pets be used as reliable monitors of lead exposure to humans?

We investigated the validity of dogs and cats as sentinels of environmental lead exposure to humans. This paper reports findings from a study conducted in Granite City, IL, during the summer of 1991. At this site, a former secondary lead smelter had been in activity for more than 80 years. The smelter was shut down in 1982. The surrounding area was found to be contaminated with lead, with soil lead concentrations above 5000 ppm in some places. The Illinois Department of Public Health conducted a survey in the community to determine the effects of lead on the local population. We sampled dogs and cats owned by these people. Our results suggest that living near a closed lead smelter, with heavy soil contamination, was not associated with high blood lead concentrations in pets, or their owners. There was a significant relationship between BLC (blood lead concentrations), in indoor pets and younger children, which was consistent with our hypothesis that pets could be used to monitor childhood lead exposure. We also found that, when there was one pet with a high BLC in a house, the likelihood of finding one person with a BLC above 10 μg/dl was significantly increased.

Relationship Between Soil Lead, Dust Lead, and Blood Lead Concentrations in Pets and Their Owners: Evaluation of Soil Lead Threshold Values

This paper reports the results of a study conducted in Granite City, Illinois during the months of August through October 1991. The study involved a subpopulation of 77 households having 106 dogs and cats which was a corollary to a major study conducted in humans by the Illinois Department of Public Health to evaluate lead exposure. A secondary lead smelter had been in operation in this town for almost 80 years and was shut down in 1982. Important soil contamination with lead was reported and this paper presents data regarding levels of soil and dust lead and associated blood lead concentrations in animals and their owners in a total of 77 households. Overall, blood lead concentrations (BLC) were low (0-13 μg/dl in the animal owners; 0-28 μg/dl in pets). There was no significant relationship between soil or dust lead and BLC in humans; however, the relationship was significant in animals. Odds ratios were computed to determine whether 500 or 1000 ppm lead in environmental samples was associated with increased risk of having a high BLC. We could not find any increased risk in humans, while the risk did increase in animals. It is concluded that animals are more at risk than their owners of having a high BLC when exposed to the same contaminated environment and can be used to monitor the bioavailability of lead.

Visual Neural Mapping Technique for Locating Fine Airborne Particles Sources

A combination of two pattern recognition methods has been developed that allows the generation of geographical emission maps from multivariate environmental data. During such a projection into a visually interpretable subspace by a Kohonen self-organizing feature map, the topology of the higher dimensional variables space can be preserved, but parts of the information about the correct neighborhood among the sample vectors are lost. This loss can partly be compensated for by the additional projection of Prim’s minimal spanning tree onto the trained neural network. This new environmental receptor site modeling technique is theoretically discussed for measurements from single sampling sites. In order to obtain a further quantitative evaluation of such a combined mapping of minimal spanning tree and Kohonen neural network, the concept of a geographic unit circle (GUC) is introduced as well. The GUC around the single sampling site in Granite City, IL, yielded estimates of the emission levels, the trace element profiles, and the geographic directions for a number of airborne particle sources.

Projection of Prim's minimal spanning tree into a Kohonen neural network for identification of airborne particle sources by their multielement trace patterns

A hybrid pattern recognition method has been developed as an alternative receptor modelling technique for the identification of sources of coarse airborne particles. The Kohonen self-organizing neural network is first applied to yield a topological map of an m-dimensional variables space. Unfortunately, during the projection into a low-dimensional subspace, most of the information about the correct distance between the sample vectors is lost. However, the Kohonen network is a useful a priori step of data compression before application of the minimal spanning tree. Prim's minimal spanning tree partly compensates for this loss yielding the distance interrelationships between groups of the samples. This combination of both projection techniques can overcome some of their individual deficiencies. Several illustrative examples are presented to demonstrate the nature of the analysis results. Then a set of airborne particle compositions for samples obtained at a single sampling site were analysed. After transferring the combined map to a geographical unit circle (GUC), a correct pattern of the main industrial emission sources around a sampling site in Granite City (Illinois, USA) has been obtained by decoding a 35-dimensional space of chemical-analytical variables into a visually and geographically interpretable 2-D space.

Low blood lead concentration associated with various biomarkers in household pets

Summary A former secondary lead smelter was in operation in Granite City, Ill, until the early 1980s. As a result, the surrounding area is heavily contaminated with lead. Soil concentrations as high as 5,000 ppm have been measured in prior studies. Because of growing concerns about health defects associated with low levels of lead exposure in human beings, a major study has been conducted on people living in the area. The study reported here was a corollary to the human exposure study. Lead concentration was determined in 84 dogs and 26 cats in the town and ranged between < 5 and 28 μg/dl. None of the dogs had clinical signs of lead poisoning. The cbc and serum biochemical values did not indicate many significant differences between dogs with a high (> 10 μg/dl) or low blood lead concentration (blc). Hemoglobin concentrations were lower, and wbc counts were higher in dogs and cats with higher blc, but they were still within reference ranges. Free erythrocyte protoporphyrin concentration was determined. Normal values appeared to be similar for dogs and cats. Only animals with blc ≥ 20 μg/dl were found to have somewhat increased concentration of free erythrocyte protoporphyrin. ∂-Aminolevulinic acid dehydratase activity was measured and found to be negatively correlated with blc. The relation was strong, even at low blc (5 to 10 μg/dl) in both species. Age or sex difference was not observed. Therefore, biological changes associated with low blc were limited to blc in the 10- to 30-μg/dl range.

Source Apportionment with Site Specific Source Profiles

A receptor modeling study was performed to identify and apportion the sources of PM10 mass in Granite City, Illinois, an area of historic TSP nonattainment. Samples of the ambient aerosol were collected using a dichotomous sampler. Each sample was analyzed by x-ray fluorescence and instrumental neutron activation analysis. To begin the study, a factor analysis was performed. Two different chemical mass balance (CMB) analyses were then made. The first CMB analysis used only source profiles available from the literature while the second included twelve source profiles developed from dust samples collected in Granite City. Both CMB analyses used 20 of the 33 analyzed elements since many of the source profiles in the literature did not include the other thirteen elements. The results from both sets of CMB analyses were grouped by the predominate wind direction at the site during the time each sample was taken to identify the direction of each source relative to the sampler. It was found that regional sources were the primary contributors to the fine fraction while the coarse fraction was composed of material from local industries. These sources were generally the ones identified during the Regional Air Pollution Study previously conducted in the area. However, the emission profiles from these sources were observed to have changed between the studies. It was also found that the use of the locally generated profiles greatly improved the results of the CMB analysis.

Book Review: The Granite City: A History of Aberdeen

Book Review: The Granite City: A History of Aberdeen

A Field Evaluation of Two PM10Inlets in an Industrialized Area of Illinois

A field evaluation of the performance of two PM/sub 10/ inlets was conducted in the heavily industrialized area of Granite City, Illinois. Samples from the inlets were collected over a seven-month period and these results permitted the comparison of 32 data sets. A statistical analysis of the accumulated sampling data found the Sierra-Andersen Model 321A and General Metals Works Model 9000 inlets to be extremely well correlated, but found them to consistently differ by 15%. Because of the magnitude of this bias and differences found in other studies between dichotomous samplers and medium and high flow inlets, serious questions must be raised as to the accuracy and comparability of reported PM/sub 10/ data. Since the available information indicates that both the GMW-9000 and S/A-321A would meet the requirements of the proposed federal reference method for PM/sub 10/, more stringent requirements must be introduced to provide a proper level of accuracy in PM/sub 10/ measurements. Additionally, wind tunnel and field testing procedures must be improved to ensure that approved samplers provide reasonably comparable results. 7 references, 1 table.

Deicer Unit Will Keep Treatment Facilities Ice‐Free

A problem that plagues water treatment plants in cold climates is ice forming on open settling basins and filters. This article outlines steps taken by treatment plants in Granite City and East St. Louis, Illinois to deice treatment equipment. Deicing units work on the principle of agitating the water, thus preventing ice formation. An air stone and a propeller type deicer are discussed.

The application of factor analysis to source apportionment of aerosol mass

As part of the development of receptor models that can be employed in air quality management, the application of target transformation factor analysis (TTFA) has been under active investigation. This method has the advantage of requiring limited a priori knowledge of the number or elemental composition of the sources contributing to the observed airborne particulate composition. The approach has been applied to aerosol composition data taken from the Regional Air Pollution Study (RAPS) of St. Louis, Mo. The fine fraction at site 108 near Granite City, Illinois for July and August, 1976, was examined in this study. In the data, secondary sulfate aerosol particles accounted for 61% of the mass of the average sample. Motor vehicle emissions accounted for another 17%. Flyash/soil, smelter, and an unidentified source accounted for the remaining particulate mass.

Metal pollutants in agricultural soils and the St. Louis urban rainfall anomaly

The existence of a rainfall anomaly downwind of the St. Louis urban-industrial areas prompted a survey of area soils for elevated heavy metal concentrations. The goals of this work were to measure concentrations of Zn, Cd, and Ph, and to evaluate the role of the urban rainfall anomaly in their accumulation, in potentially-affected soils. Samples from three soil layers were collected from agricultural fields at 21 sites along two NE-SW transects. The samples were analyzed for pH, texture, cation exchange capacity, and total organic carbon, in addition to the three metals. The highest metal concentrations were observed near Granite City, Illinois, and coincided with an area of maximum Zn deposition in rain found in an earlier study. Only slight increases of the metals over background were found in the area of rainfall anomaly. Present rates of atmospheric deposition can account for these slightly elevated metal concentrations. However, the maximum concentrations found near Granite City cannot be accounted for by present atmospheric deposition rates. Other kinds of sources, or larger atmospheric deposition rates, perhaps during the operation of a local Zn smelter which closed about 1960, must have contributed.

INDUSTRIAL LOCATION AND AIR POLLUTION ABATEMENT*

Journal of Regional ScienceVolume 14, Issue 1 p. 55-63 INDUSTRIAL LOCATION AND AIR POLLUTION ABATEMENT* Robert E. Kohn, Robert E. Kohn Associate Professor of Economics, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville.Search for more papers by this author Robert E. Kohn, Robert E. Kohn Associate Professor of Economics, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville.Search for more papers by this author First published: April 1974 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9787.1974.tb00429.xCitations: 10 * This research was supported by grant No. GS 2892 from the National Science Foundation. The author is grateful to Donald F. Cairns, Vice President of Granite City Steel Company, for his comments on the paper. Although Dr. Cairns was critical of some of the numbers used to describe the control technology for his company, the revisions which he has proposed would not have altered the general conclusions. AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume14, Issue1April 1974Pages 55-63 RelatedInformation

The mechanical response of pre-fractured rock in compression

The Mechanical Response of Pre-Fractured Rock in Compression This paper describes experimental procedures and results obtained from an experimental study of pre-cracked rock specimens. In these experiments specimens of Westerly granite and Cedar City tonalite were broken in special fixtures and subsequently retested in a triaxial apparatus. Confining pressures up to 7 kb were employed. The rock specimens were well fragmented during the pre-cracking process. The results indicate a number of interesting features, including the significant retention of load-carrying ability under many stress conditions and an increase in maximum deformation. A comparison is made with frictional data determined elsewhere for Westerly granite; the close agreement in maximum stress suggests the importance of friction in the specimen mechanical behavior.

North to Aberdeen — The Age of Maturity — Nurses' Frilly Caps

THE British Medical Journal1 has admitted that toward the end of June, many doctors were seen carrying golf clubs as they boarded the night trains for Scotland. They were bound for the old granite city of Aberdeen, where the annual meeting of the British Medical Association was being held. No such meeting in Scotland could be complete without a round of golf, and it is feared that during the course of the Conference several hundred balls disappeared forever into the impenetrable rough. But it was not all golf and apart from the scientific and social activities, there was serious discussion . . .

Urban development in air pollution basins: an appeal to the planners for help.

The air basin between the Mississippi River and the bluff in Illinois is of particular interest for this report. The autumnal temperature profiles were measured by a wiresonde. Each day through September and October had an inversion at dawn and/or dusk. During the entire three months, inversions 5° or more occurred at dawn 64% of the mornings, those 10° or more occurred 45% of the mornings; and those 15° occurred 23% of the mornings. Under intense inversions, the topography holds cool air in the basin like water in a saucer, and currents within this 200-ft air layer comprise a quasi-closed circulation system. A frequent pattern of air circulation involves a northwestward surface drift in the basin, with a southwest wind aloft and an updraft over St. Louis. This forms a horizontal semi-vortex along the river, concentrating the heavier particulates near East St. Louis and Granite City. Multiple evidence showed this pattern to exist one morning among four. Business interests would use the basin for industria...

Granite City Steel Co.

Two plants report on atomizing liquid fuel with natural gas rather than steam. Result: higher production and better overall operation.

A COMPARISON OF SCORES ON A HEALTH KNOWLEDGE TEST OF COLLEGE VETERANS AND NON‐VETERANS

Journal of School HealthVolume 26, Issue 7 p. 220-222 A COMPARISON OF SCORES ON A HEALTH KNOWLEDGE TEST OF COLLEGE VETERANS AND NON-VETERANS DONALD N. BOYDSTON M.S., M.A., ED.D., DONALD N. BOYDSTON M.S., M.A., ED.D. Chairman, Department of Health Education, Southern Illinois UniversitySearch for more papers by this authorJAMES A. SELLS M.S., JAMES A. SELLS M.S. Lecturer, Physical Education for Men, Southern Illinois UniversitySearch for more papers by this authorROBERT F. WHELAN M.S., ROBERT F. WHELAN M.S. Teacher of Physical Education, Granite City Public SchoolsSearch for more papers by this author DONALD N. BOYDSTON M.S., M.A., ED.D., DONALD N. BOYDSTON M.S., M.A., ED.D. Chairman, Department of Health Education, Southern Illinois UniversitySearch for more papers by this authorJAMES A. SELLS M.S., JAMES A. SELLS M.S. Lecturer, Physical Education for Men, Southern Illinois UniversitySearch for more papers by this authorROBERT F. WHELAN M.S., ROBERT F. WHELAN M.S. Teacher of Physical Education, Granite City Public SchoolsSearch for more papers by this author First published: September 1956 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1561.1956.tb00851.xAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Volume26, Issue7September 1956Pages 220-222 RelatedInformation

Notes on the Life History of the Salamander Aneides aeneus

ALTHOUGH plethodontid salamander, Aneides aeneus (Cope), seems to be common in some localities, there are comparatively few records of its occurrence and no life history data from southern portion of its range in Southern Appalachians. It has been reported from only two localities in North Carolina, Highlands (Brimley, 1941) and Bat Cave, Chimney Rock (Weller, 1930), each based on collection of a single specimen. There are single published records for western South Carolina and northeast Alabama (Dunn, 1926, and Brimley, 1941-43) and in Georgia it has been found at several localities in mountainous region, notably Tallulah Gorge in Rabun County (unpublished data of writers and J. C. Nicholls, Jr.). During summer of 1948 we discovered two breeding colonies of this salamander in Highlands, North Carolina region and were able to make measurements and life history observations over a period of about two months. The work was aided by Ward Research Fellowship, awarded by Highlands Biological Laboratory. We are also indebted to Miss Thelma Howell, Resident Director of Laboratory, and Dr. Eugene P. Odum for aid and suggestions in preparation of this paper. The first group of breeding Aneides was found inhabiting a granite cliff near Laboratory at an elevation of 4100 feet within town limits of Highlands, which is located 10 miles north of Georgia line on a high plateau of Blue Ridge. This site, hereafter known as Highlands site, was under observation from June 15 to August 20. Less extensive observations were made at second site, a spectacular granite outcrop known as Granite City, having an elevation of about 3100 feet and located about 10 miles southeast of Highlands in Jackson County, North Carolina (very near common junction of North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia). Aneides aeneus has been previously recorded as inhabiting the loose bark of dead trees (Pope, 1928), limestone cliffs (Walker and Goodpasteur, 1941), sandstone cliffs (Bishop, 1943), and quartzite cliffs (Nicholls, personal correspondence). Thus to this list authors add exfoliated surfaces and horizontal crevices of granite cliffs. The granite cliffs in Highlands site were located in a mature hemlock forest with a rhododendron understory. Eggs, immature and mature individuals were collected from crevices which were so densely shaded as to require use of a flashlight in finding salamanders. The crevices admitted little or no water from surface run off, heavy plant growth holding enough moisture to keep atmosphere humid. The sites of eggs within crevices were moist but not wet. No specimens were found in crevices directly exposed to sunlight. A similar situation existed at Granite City site. The depth of crevices at both localities was quite variable. The previous record from Highlands was an individual found August 1, 1938, by Dr. W. C. Coker in his woodpile, which incidentally was located a