Dear Professors, Students and Colleagues,
Please be informed that a seminar by Dr. Zhi Ning, Assistant Professor,
School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong will be held
on 5 Sept 2011 (Monday).
Schedule and abstract of Dr. Zhi Ning’s talk as follows:
Date: 5 Sept 2011 (Monday)
Time: 3:00p.m.
Venue: Room 1003, IENV (Lift 4)
Seminar Title:
Sources and Health Effects of PM Pollutants
Abstract
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Air pollution, including particulate matters (PM) and co-pollutants, is
ubiquitous component in the atmosphere exerting important impacts on human
health and global climate. Current air quality standard across different
regions is based on PM10 and/or PM2.5 mass concentration, however, PM is a
highly heterogeneous mixture with particle size ranging from a few
nanometers to a few tens of micrometers, and chemical compositions including
carbonaceous compounds, inorganic ions, heavy metals and trace elements etc.
A better understanding of the physicochemical properties of PM from
different sources is vital in assessing their impact on the environment and
devising emission control and mitigation strategies. In addition, numerous
epidemiological and toxicological studies have documented robust
associations between PM mass and adverse health outcomes. However, in
considering plausible biological mechanisms of injury, prevailing scientific
opinion contends that PM mass, as regulated in air quality standards, is
only a surrogate measure of other physical or chemical properties of PM that
are the actual cause of the observed health outcomes. A shift in the
paradigm for monitoring air quality from the current focus of atmospheric
pollutant concentrations toward identifying the most harmful toxicity
drivers is needed to improve our understanding of the source specific
adverse health effect and to inform policy makers to better protect the
public health. This presentation covers a series of case studies of
characterizing PM from heavy duty diesel vehicle emissions retrofitted with
newest control devices and source identification of ambient coarse PM in
southern California , as well as their potential implication to public
health.
Bio of Dr. Zhi Ning recently joined the School of Energy and Environment in
City University of Hong Kong as an Assistant Professor. He has been a
Research Assistant Professor in University of Southern California and
Aerosol Research Manager of the Southern California Particle Center since
2009 after he received his Ph.D degree in the Environmental Engineering from
University of Southern California . His achievements in the doctoral
research work have been recognized by honoring him as the very first
recipient of the Outstanding Research Assistant Award at USC in 2007. Dr.
Ning has published about 30 peer-reviewed publications in the field of
environmental engineering with a focus on aerosol related research. His main
research interests include the aerosol sources characterization and
identification, instrumentation for pollution control and measurement and
personal exposure assessment.
All are welcome!
For EOs, please forward the above seminar announcement to the faculty
members, staff and students at your Department for me. Thanks a lot.
Best regards,
Vanessa
______________________________
Program Assistant
Division of Environment
HK University of Science & Technology
Tel. no.: (852) 2358-8362
Fax: (852) 2335-9317