California Air Quality Standards and Monitoring
It’s finally summertime and that means people are taking advantage of the beautiful sunny weather and going out to enjoy more outdoor activities, which is great, but that also means more air pollution. As California is the most populated state in the country and has crazy amounts of traffic, air pollution tends to spike during the summer. According to the California Air Resources Board, in 2018, Southern California went 87 consecutive days without clean air.
Because California’s climate is on the dryer side during the summer, vegetation dries up, which serves as the perfect tinder for forest fires. When wildfires do break out, we often don’t think about the air we breathe because the fires are burning far from where we are. Although fires can be burning far from where we live, the wind pushes the smoke and spreads it across the sky like a fuzzy blanket of smoke. Conditions like that can cause mild to severe respiratory problems. That’s why air quality monitoring is important. Let’s take a look at California’s air quality standards and how we monitor air quality.
Air Quality Standards
Just as there are environmental and recreational factors that can affect air quality, there are specific industries that also affect air quality, especially in big metropolitan cities where there are many forms of transportation. Other industries like coal-mining, cement processing, and power generation through coal or fire are highly regulated because they disperse pollutants into the air.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has two types of standards that have to do with keeping pollutants under a specific level of contamination. The primary standard is set to protect against any harmful pollutants that can cause health effects and the second standard protects damage to farms, vegetation, and buildings. The EPA provides a table on their website that outlines the six “criteria” pollutants commonly found in the air and the acceptable level standards for each one.
Air Quality Monitoring
You can find many chemical or pollutants in the air, but as mentioned above there are a handful of major pollutants that testers are vigilantly keeping an eye out for, which include the following:
- Carbon monoxide
- Lead
- Nitrogen Dioxide
- Ozone
- Particulate Matter
- Sulfur Dioxide
For a local example of air quality monitoring, the main objective for the Port of Los Angeles specifically is to “estimate ambient levels of diesel particulate matter in proximity to the port that are due to port operations activities.” Because there is a lot of activity going on in the Port of Los Angeles, monitoring the air quality in real-time is important and helps determine whether their pollution reduction program has been a success. The port’s program was put in place to help improve the quality of living for local residents and employees who work and live by the harbor. The Port of Los Angeles has placed four air monitoring stations throughout the Port area and have been monitoring air quality since 2005.
In 2016, the Port of Los Angeles had reached a majority of its 2023 emissions goals 8 years early.
How Air Monitoring Stations Work
Air monitoring stations are used to monitor air quality. Air monitoring stations are placed strategically in areas where there are industrial plants, around important areas like schools and hospitals and in inland areas where the wind can potentially push pollutants from their origin.
Typically, a station is set up with a number of inlets that capture air samples. The inlets are connected to various instruments, sensors, and analyzers to measure various pollutants. The samples are then run through a beta attenuation monitor to analyze tiny particular matter that is a lot smaller than a strand of hair in diameter. The tiny particles come down from the inlets and are deposited on the tape in the machine, which then changes the color of the tape.
All the different readings that are collected are passed through to a computer or a type of data processing server that sorts the data and uploads it onto a corresponding website. The data is then used to prepare daily forecasts, provide air quality insights, compare historical data and more. Like the Port of Los Angeles, many plants and facilities use continuous monitoring methods which continuously measures specific pollutant emissions for long periods of time, which are useful when comparing to historical data to evaluate improvements over time.
Conclusion
Without quality air, we’d be more susceptible to respiratory infections and disease. Having clean air to breathe is critical to our health and environment. These are some of the things that are taken for granted. We don’t think about what is in the air we breathe, but we can all do our part to make sure we don’t further contribute to the pollution crisis.
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Sources:
https://www.epa.gov/criteria-air-pollutants/naaqs-table
https://www.portoflosangeles.org/environment/progress/initiatives/air-quality-monitoring/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mp3kztZy7ow
http://hiq.linde-gas.com/en/specialties/applications/air_quality_monitoring.html
https://www.epa.gov/air-research/air-monitoring-measuring-and-emissions-research
http://www.fortair.org/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2012/08/FAP_Sht1_HowAQMon_Sngl.pdf
http://hiq.linde-gas.com/en/specialties/applications/air_quality_monitoring.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Los_Angeles