Glenn C. Morrison Associate
Professor of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering 221 (573) 341-7192; 
MY ACADEMIC INTERESTS
I’m most interested in the physics and chemistry of indoor air pollution. You’ll see statistics on many web-sites stating that indoor air quality is much worse than outdoor air quality. This is broadly true, but needs to be qualified. Some (but not all) chemical and particulate pollutants do exist at higher concentrations indoors than outdoors because they are often generated indoors. In a 1997 analysis, an EPA risk assessment group placed several indoor pollutants among the top 5 environmental health risks to North Americans. Given the human health imperative, I attempt to promote awareness of the problem in the courses I teach and the research projects I and my students work on. For a comprehensive CV go here. Also, check out the activities of the Environmental Research Center.
COURSES I TEACH AT MS&T
Introduction to Environmental Engineering
Introduction to Air Pollution
Air Pollution Control
Physico-Chemical Processes in Environmental Engineering
Indoor Air Pollution
CURRENT RESEARCH AND RELATED PROJECTS
1) Workshop
on Interfacial Chemistry in Indoor Environments. In July of 2007, we
put on a workshop sponsored by the
National Science Foundation and the California Air Resources Board. The
objectives of this workshop were to identify research needs and rank gaps in
the existing knowledgebase of indoor interfacial chemistry as it relates to
human exposure to air pollutants. Based on presentations and discussions, the
participants identified the most fruitful short-term research courses to
follow, outlined medium and long-term research goals, instigated new
collaborations and identified key existing resources and necessary improvements
to the existing research infrastructure. Many recommendations for future
research were put forward in workshop discussions; the following summarize
research priorities with notable consensus:
1. A molecular level understanding of physical and chemical processes occurring at indoor surfaces
2. Composition and morphology of indoor surfaces and interfaces
3. Health consequences of indoor air/interfacial chemistry
4. Reactions occurring at the human interface and with human residues (e.g. skin oils) and bioeffluents
A complete report with seminar
topics, participants, and recommendations can be found here: WICIE 2007 workshop report (Soon to be a Feature Article in Environmental
Science and Technology).
SPECIAL THANKS TO Lucretia Eaton of the UMR Environmental Research Center!
2) Field
evaluation of secondary pollutant emissions in homes. My National Science Foundation CAREER award is
funding field research to determine the extent of ozone initiated surface
chemistry in real homes. Following several homes over a period of years, this
research will show whether the slow accumulation of surface oils and dirt is
more important than the underlying surfaces in controlling overall secondary
emissions into homes. This comprehensive five-year project includes
laboratory and field chamber experiments. Small laboratory chambers are used to
measure ozone induced aldehyde emission rates on representative materials from
real homes. Field chambers are used to periodically isolate and test indoor
surfaces in the homes themselves to examine the influence of surface aging,
soiling and cleaning. Relevant journal
article: Wang and Morrison, 2006
3) Chemistry and transport near and on
human surfaces. Since proximity
to a pollutant source is as important at the source strength, we have begun
evaluating pollutant dynamics and chemistry in the region around the human
body, specifically the head region. We have learned that ozone flux to human
hair is very fast, and that ozone reactions with human sebum will be
responsible for lower ozone exposure, but also responsible for higher exposure
to oxidation products such as aldehydes and ketones. Relevant journal article: Pandrangi and Morrison,
2008. Also excerpted at New
Scientist and Popular
Science.
Working with the fine folks the
University of Texas, Austin, we have also learned that ozone will react with
fragrances (e.g. perfumes) around the head region, increasing exposure to
sub-micron aerosol that are produced by
these reactions. Relevant journal
article: Corsi et al., 2007
4) Indoor surface chemistry of terpenes.
Many consumer products and personal care products release huge amounts of
fragrance compounds known as terpenes and terpenoids. These compounds readily
react with ozone in air, but what about surfaces? It turns out that indoor
surfaces can hold onto fragrance molecules, thus providing them more time to
react with ozone (if they so choose!). We are in the early stages of
quantifying the fundamental reaction rates at surfaces with the goal of better
understanding how air fresheners and perfumes affect indoor air quality. Relevant conference paper: Springs and Morrison, 2007
5) Exposure history derived from indoor
surfaces. In one of my newer research projects, I am exploring the
possibility of extracting indoor exposure histories for air pollutants from the
building materials themselves. For example, the diffusion of benzene into vinyl
flooring leaves a quantifiable concentration profile. This profile is analogous
to a fuzzy photograph of the recent time-history of indoor benzene
concentrations. Thus, core samples of materials such as vinyl flooring,
concrete, paint, or even couch cushions can provide rich detail about the
timing and intensity of indoor pollution episodes. Relevant journal article: Morrison
et al., 2007
6) Alkaline/acidic organic pollutant
interactions with indoor surfaces. Internal funding (
7) Pollutant transport to indoor surfaces. In conjunction with my surface chemistry work, I am pursuing a better understanding of the physics of pollutant transport to and from indoor surfaces. My students and I have developed several methods for measuring indoor mass-transfer coefficients and have been applying them to real indoor settings. Using micro flux-sensors, we are able to measure transport in real-time and correlate this with indoor parameters such as ventilation rate, occupant activities, etc. The tools we have developed will allow us to generate a parameterized database of mass-transfer coefficients for use in improving indoor air quality models. Relevant journal articles: Morrison et al., 2006, Morrison and Wiseman, 2006