Separating Ambient PM2.5 Into Source-Specific FractionsFor Use In Toxicology Studies

The summary for the Separating Ambient PM2.5 Into Source-Specific FractionsFor Use In Toxicology Studies grant is detailed below. This summary states who is eligible for the grant, how much grant money will be awarded, current and past deadlines, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) numbers, and a sampling of similar government grants. Verify the accuracy of the data FederalGrants.com provides by visiting the webpage noted in the Link to Full Announcement section or by contacting the appropriate person listed as the Grant Announcement Contact. If any section is incomplete, please visit the website for the Headquarters, which is the U.S. government agency offering this grant.

Separating Ambient PM2.5 Into Source-Specific FractionsFor Use In Toxicology Studies: NOTE: Please read the Master Funding OpportunityAnnouncement for completeevaluation criteria and instructions on how to prepare your application.https://e-center.doe.gov/iips/faopor.nsf/1be0f2271893ba198525644b006bc0be/7dd24fd3b334d11985256f32005c0821?OpenDocumentApplications which fit the following description should be submitted underthisfunding opportunity title of Separating Ambient PM2.5 Into Source-SpecificFractions For Use In Toxicology Studies (DE-PS26-05NT42244-12)There is a general consensus in the health research community that not allchemical components of ambient PM2.5 are equally toxic. However, researchtodate has not definitively identified the chemical species or mixtures ofchemical species that pose the greatest potential threat to human health.Priorresearch in this area has included experiments that exposed laboratoryanimalsto PM2.5 emissions obtained from various industrial sources and examinedthehealth effects of these exposures. However, one of the inherent problems inthis approach is that people do not ordinarily breathe the fresh stackemissions from industrial sources; the size and chemical composition ofparticulate matter can change as it mixes and reacts with other chemicalconstituents in the ambient air. This is especially true for emissionsfromutility coal boilers, which are released from very tall stacks and cantravelfor many miles before any human exposure occurs. Many physical andchemicalreactions (e.g., agglomeration of fly ash particles, oxidation of sulfurdioxide and neutralization with ammonia) can and do occur during this time.Therefore, traditional stack sampling techniques, even when modified bydilution sampling, do not provide toxicology researchers with the types ofsamples needed to conduct realistic experiments that could clarify thehealtheffects produced by utility coal boiler emissions.A recent advancement in toxicology research is the development of equipmentthat produces concentrated ambient particles (CAPs) for use in animalexposureexperiments. Concentrating the ambient particles is advantageous becauseitcan reduce the duration (hence the cost and complexity) of animal exposureexperiments without fundamentally changing the physiological responses oftheanimals to the exposures. However, current technology for producing CAPsiscapable of concentrating only the entire ambient PM2.5 ?catch.? In ordertofurther elucidate the role played by emissions from coal plants, it wouldbedesirable to separate the ambient PM2.5 into fractions that eitherpreferentially include or exclude specific components that are known toresultfrom coal plant emissions. These fractions could then be concentrated forusein animal exposure experiments, and the results of these exposures could becompared to determine the health effects occurring ?with? and ?without? thecomponents of interest. Therefore, grant applications are sought to developnovel technologies and methods for separating ambient PM2.5 into specificfractions that are substantially enriched in and/or depleted ofconstituentsthat are commonly associated with coal-fired utility boilers, with a viewtoward concentrating the separated fractions for use in subsequenttoxicological studies. In the case of utility coal boilers, theconstituentsof greatest interest would be fly ash (spherical aluminosilicates) and/orammonium sulfates/bisulfates. However, grant applications that propose todevelop technology that will artificially convert coal boiler emissionsinto?realistic? ambient particles, or to conduct toxicological studies usingconcentrated ambient PM2.5, will not be accepted.