Predicting Spatial Variations in Multiple Measures of Oxidative Burden for Outdoor Fine Particulate Air Pollution...

Fine particulate air pollution (PM_2.5) is a leading contributor to the overall global burden of disease. Traditionally, outdoor PM_2.5 has been characterized using mass concentrations which treat all particles as equally harmful. Oxidative potential (OP) (per μg) and oxidative burden (OB) (per m³) are complementary metrics that estimate the ability of PM_2.5 to cause oxidative stress, which is an important mechanism in air pollution health effects. Here, we provide the first national estimates of spatial variations in multiple measures (glutathione, ascorbate, and dithiothreitol depletion) of annual median outdoor PM_2.5 OB across Canada. To do this, we combined a large database of ground-level OB measurements collected monthly prospectively across Canada for 2 years (2016-2018) with PM_2.5 components estimated using a chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem) and satellite aerosol observations. Our predicted ground-level OB values of all three methods were consistent with ground-level observations (cross-validation R² = 0.63-0.74). We found that forested regions and urban areas had the highest OB, predicted primarily by black carbon and organic carbon from wildfires and transportation sources. Importantly, the dominant components associated with OB were different than those contributing to PM_2.5 mass concentrations (secondary inorganic aerosol); thus, OB metrics may better indicate harmful components and sources on health than the bulk PM_2.5 mass, reinforcing that OB estimates can complement the existing PM_2.5 data in future national-level epidemiological studies.