AIR QUALITY

STANDARDS
London (1952, December)
12,000 people died from the
so-called killer fogs of London,
produced by the condensation of
water on the daily 2,000 tons of
sulfur dioxide and pollutants
produced by coal-burning
industrial furnaces and home
heating systems in the city.
AIR QUALITY STANDARDS
1970 CLEAN AIR ACT
- required the US Environmental Protection
Agency to investigate and describe the
environmental effects of any air pollutant
emitted by stationary or mobile sources that
may adversely affect human health or the
environment.
NATIONAL AMBIENT AIR QUALITY
STANDARDS (NAAQS)
- Used by EPA for the ambient air standards
 Goals of Air Quality
Regulations
Protect and enhance air quality.
Protect and promote human health
and public welfare.
Air pollution control at state and local
level.
Reduce the most significant risks to
human health or the environment.
Determine risk-based priorities.
 Air Quality Standards: Prescribe the
pollutant levels that cannot be legally
exceeded during a specific time period
in a specific geographic region
1970 :
Primary Standards
Protection of public health (to be achieved
regardless of cost and within the specified
time limit)
Secondary Standards
To protect public from known and anticipated
adverse effects
Time schedule to be determined by state and
local governments
AIR QUALITY STANDARDS
- Criteria Pollutants intend to protect
health
- Primary standardsprovide public health
protection, including protecting the health of
"sensitive" populations such as asthmatics,
children, and the elderly.
- Secondary standardsprovide public
welfare protection, including protection
against decreased visibility and damage to
animals, crops, vegetation, and buildings.
 AIR QUALITY STANDARDS
PM10 STANDARD
-In 1987, EPA revised NAAQS requiring the
mass of particulate matter with an
aerodynamic diameter less than or equal
to 10m replacing the Total Suspended
Particulates (TSP).
ATTAINMENT AREA
- An Air Quality Control Region (AQR) that
has air quality equal to or better than the
primary standard
 Clean Air Act Amendments
of 1970
HEW (prior to 1970) EPA (post 1970)
Primary emphasis Enactment and
on voluntary enforcement of
control effective pollution
conciliation
education standards
persuasion litigation
encourage and fines
support state and injunctions
local action jail terms
 Emission Standards
Emission Standards: limit the amount or
concentration of a contaminant that may be emitted
from a source.
Visible emission standards.
Particulate emission standards.
Particulate process weight (or mass) standards.
Gas concentration standards.
Prohibition of emissions.
Regulation of fuel.
Zoning restrictions.
Dispersion based standards.
Risk Standards of
Chemicals
Risk Standards of
Chemicals
 Pollutant Standard Index
PSI provides a uniform system of
measuring pollution levels for the
major air pollutants. It is based on a
scale devised by theUnited States
Environmental Protection
Agency(USEPA) to provide a way for
broadcasts and newspapers to report
air quality on a daily basis.
 Pollutant Standard Index
PSI Descriptio General Health Effects
n
0 50 Good None
51 100 Moderate Few or none for the general population
101 150 Unhealthy for Members of sensitive groups may
sensitive experience health effects. General public
groups may not be affected.
151 200 Unhealthy Everyone may begin to experience health
effects. Members of the sensitive group
may experience serious health effects
201 300 Very Health warnings of emergency conditions.
unhealthy The entire population may likely be
affected
301+ Hazardous Health alert. Everyone may experience
serious health effects
 Air Pollution Index
API Descriptio General Health Effects
n
0 50 Excellent None
51 100 Good Few or none for the general population
101 150 Slightly Members of sensitive groups may
polluted experience health effects. General public
may not be affected.
151 200 Lightly Everyone may begin to experience health
polluted effects. Members of the sensitive group
may experience serious health effects
201 250 Moderately Healthy people will be noticeably affected.
polluted Elders should remain indoors.
251 300 Heavily Health warnings of emergency conditions.
polluted Elders should remain indoors
301+ Severely Health alert. Everyone may experience
polluted serious health effects. Reduced endurance.
INDE OZONE NO2 SO2 PM10 PM2.5
X (g/m3) (g/m3) (g/m3) (g/m3) (g/m3)
1 0 33 0 66 0 88 0 11 0 16
2 34 65 67 133 89 176 12 17
23 33
3 66 -99 134 177 265 24 34
199 34 49
4 100 200 266 354 35 50
120 267 41 58
5 121 268 355 442 42 59
140 334 46 66
6 141 335 443 531 47 67
159 399 52 74
7 160 400 530 708 53 75
187 467 58 83
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X C I U A T N