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In-room air cleaners (ACs) and upper-room air ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) are engineering control technologies that can help reduce the concentrations of airborne bacteria and fungal spores in the indoor environment. This study investigated six different types of ACs and quantified their ability to remove and/or inactivate airborne bacteria and fungal spores. Four of the air cleaners incorporated UV lamp(s) into their flow path. In addition, the efficacy of combining ACs with upper-room air UVGI was investigated. With the ventilation system providing zero or six air changes per hour, the air cleaners were tested separately or with the upper-room air UVGI system in operation in an 87-m3 test room. Active bacteria cells and fungal spores were aerosolized into the room such that their numbers and physiologic state were comparable both with and without air cleaning and upper-room air UVGI. In addition, the disinfection performance of a UV-C lamp internal to one of the ACs was evaluated by estimating the percentage of airborne bacteria cells and fungal spores captured on the air filter medium surface that were inactivated with UV exposure. Average airborne microbial clean air delivery rates (CADRm) varied between 26-981 m3 hr-1 depending on the AC, and between 1480-2370 m3 hr-1, when using air cleaners in combination with upper-room air UVGI. Culturing, direct microscopy, and optical particle counting revealed similar CADRm. The ACs performed similarly when challenged with three different microorganisms. Testing two of the ACs showed that no additional air cleaning was provided with the operation of an internal UV-C lamp; the internal UV-C lamps, however, inactivated 75% of fungal spores and 97% of bacteria cells captured in the air filter medium within 60 min.

The San Joaquin Valley (SJV) in California currently experiences some of the highest surface ozone (O(3)) concentrations in the United States even though it has a population density that is an order of magnitude lower than many urban areas with similar ozone problems. Previously unrecognized agricultural emissions may explain why O(3) concentrations in the SJV have not responded to traditional emissions control programs. In the present study, the ozone formation potentials (OFP) of livestock feed emissions were measured on representative field samples using a transportable smog chamber. Seven feeds were considered: cereal silage (wheat grain and oat grain), alfalfa silage, corn silage, high moisture ground corn (HMGC), almond shells, almond hulls, and total mixed ration (TMR = 55% corn silage, 16% corn grain, 8% almond hulls, 7% hay, 7% bran + seeds, and 5% protein + vitamins + minerals). The measured short-term OFP for each gram of reactive organic gas (ROG) emissions from all livestock feed was 0.17-0.41 g-O(3) per g-ROG. For reference, OFP of exhaust from light duty gasoline powered cars under the same conditions is 0.69 +/- 0.15 g-O(3) per g-ROG. Model calculations were able to reproduce the ozone formation from animal feeds indicating that the measured ROG compounds account for the observed ozone formation (i.e., ozone closure was achieved). Ethanol and other alcohol species accounted for more than 50% of the ozone formation for most types of feed. Aldehydes were also significant contributors for cereal silage, high moisture ground corn, and total mixed ration. Ozone production calculations based on feed consumption rates, ROG emissions rates, and OFP predict that animal feed emissions dominate the ROG contributions to ozone formation in the SJV with total production of 25 +/- 10 t O(3) day(-1). The next most significant ROG source of ozone production in the SJV is estimated to be light duty vehicles with total production of 14.3 +/- 1.4 t O(3) day(-1). The majority of the animal feed ozone formation is attributed to corn silage. Future work should be conducted to reduce the uncertainty of ROG emissions from animal feeds in the SJV and to include this significant source of ozone formation in regional airshed models.

A three-dimensional air quality model with 8 km horizontal resolution was applied to estimate the summertime ozone (O(3)) production from mobile sources and fermented livestock feed in California's San Joaquin Valley (SJV) during years 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020. Previous studies have estimated that animal feed emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have greater O(3) formation potential than mobile-source VOC emissions when averaging across the entire SJV. The higher spatial resolution in the current study shows that the proximity of oxides of nitrogen (NO(x)) and VOC emissions from mobile sources enhances their O(3) formation potential. Livestock feed VOC emissions contributed 3-4 ppb of peak O(3) (8-h average) in Tulare County and 1-2 ppb throughout the remainder of the SJV during the CCOS 2000 July-August episode. In total, livestock feed contributed ~3.5 tons of the ground level peak O(3) (8 h average) in the SJV region, and mobile VOC contributed ~12 tons in this episode. O(3) production from mobile sources is declining over time in response to emissions control plans that call for cleaner fuels and engines with advanced emissions controls. Projecting forward to the year 2020, mobile-source VOC emissions are predicted to produce ~3 tons of the ground level peak O(3)(8-h average) and livestock feed VOC emissions are predicted to contribute ~2.5 tons making these sources nearly equivalent.

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