Investigating the Impact of Aviation Activity on Fine Particulate Matter, Black Carbon, and Ultrafine Particles Using Flight Track Data at the Ottawa International Airport

Ambient particulate matter pollution has been found to increase in concentration downwind from airports. This relationship is mostly evident for particles in the ultrafine size range. Furthermore, epidemiological research has found that those who live near airports have increased risks of premature mortality, decreased lung function, and adverse birth outcomes. Previous exposure studies of airport emissions have been based in urban centers, making it difficult to selectively measure airport emissions without the contribution of other related sources. Our aim was to characterize the relationships between air pollutant particle measures (ultrafine particles [UFP], fine particulate matter [PM2.5], black carbon [BC]) and air traffic (landings and take-offs [LTO]) at the Ottawa International Airport [YOW]. A monitoring site was established in greenspace approximately 600 m east of YOW and away from roadways and urban development. Air pollutant particles were measured continuously from June 2022 to January 2023. Flight track data was used to derive hourly LTO counts. Analyses of source directionality showed that UFP concentrations were higher when downwind from the airport. Further, when wind speeds were less than 20 km/h, UFP and LTO showed similar diurnal trends. No evidence of these associations was evident for PM2.5 and BC. After selecting for airport wind directions and wind speeds less than 20 km/h, linear regression models showed each additional takeoff led to a 10–13% increase in the 50th to 99th UFP concentration percentiles. Our findings support policies designed to reduce potential health impacts of airport emissions on the exposed community.