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

- Criteria Pollutants intend to protect health- Primary standards provide public health

protection, including protecting the health of "sensitive" populations such as asthmatics, children, and the elderly.

- Secondary standards provide 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 10μm 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

AIR QUALITY STANDARDS

Clean Air Act Amendments of 1970

HEW (prior to 1970) EPA (post 1970)• Primary emphasis on

voluntary control• conciliation • education • persuasion • encourage and support

state and local action

• Enactment and enforcement of effective pollution standards • litigation • fines • injunctions • jail terms

• 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.

Emission 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 the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) to provide a way for broadcasts and newspapers to report air quality on a daily basis.

Pollutant Standard IndexPSI Description General Health Effects

0 – 50 Good None

51 – 100 Moderate Few or none for the general population

101 – 150 Unhealthy for sensitive groups

Members of sensitive groups may experience health effects. General public 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 unhealthy Health warnings of emergency conditions. The entire population may likely be affected

301+ Hazardous Health alert. Everyone may experience serious health effects

Air Pollution IndexAir Pollution IndexAPI Description General Health Effects

0 – 50 Excellent None

51 – 100 Good Few or none for the general population

101 – 150 Slightly polluted Members of sensitive groups may experience health effects. General public may not be affected.

151 – 200 Lightly polluted Everyone may begin to experience health effects. Members of the sensitive group may experience serious health effects

201 – 250 Moderately polluted

Healthy people will be noticeably affected. Elders should remain indoors.

251 – 300 Heavily polluted Health warnings of emergency conditions. Elders should remain indoors

301+ Severely polluted

Health alert. Everyone may experience serious health effects. Reduced endurance.

INDEX OZONE (μg/m3)

NO2

(μg/m3)SO2

(μg/m3)PM10

(μg/m3)PM2.5

(μg/m3)1 0 – 33 0 – 66 0 – 88 0 – 11 0 – 16

2 34 – 65 67 – 133 89 – 176 12 – 23 17 – 33

3 66 -99 134 – 199 177 – 265 24 – 34 34 – 49

4 100 – 120 200 – 267 266 – 354 35 – 41 50 – 58

5 121 – 140 268 – 334 355 – 442 42 – 46 59 – 66

6 141 – 159 335 – 399 443 – 531 47 – 52 67 – 74

7 160 – 187 400 – 467 530 – 708 53 – 58 75 – 83

8 188 – 213 468 – 534 709 – 886 59 – 64 84 – 91

9 214 – 239 535 – 599 887 – 1063 65 – 69 92 – 99

10 ≥ 240 ≥ 600 ≥ 1064 ≥ 70 ≥ 100

T I R R EI P C X A

T L L O TN P C U A

T O L O EN Z C U A

T R L S E A OP C I U A T M

T R L S B A OX C I U A T N