Air Pollution and Quality Standards

Air Pollution: Air Quality & Monitoring

• Air quality is a dynamic and complex environmental phenomenon with large temporal and spatial variations.
• Variations in air quality are caused by changes in pollutant source emission rates, meteorology, and topography.
• These factors influence chemical reactions and control/removal of atmospheric pollutants.

Clean Air Act (CAA)

• The EPA defines ambient air as the portion of the atmosphere outside buildings accessible to the public.
• The CAA regulates pollution entering the outside air, including emissions from stacks, chimneys, vents, etc., which are referred to as point source emissions or area emissions.
• The CAA also regulates mobile and fugitive emissions that enter the atmosphere directly.
• The CAA does not regulate indoor air pollution or pollution confined to private property.

National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)

• The EPA establishes NAAQS for every pollutant designated as a "criteria" pollutant.
• Six criteria air pollutants are regulated: ozone, particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), sulfur oxides, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and lead.
• Ozone is not directly emitted but forms in the atmosphere from the interaction of VOCs and NOx in the presence of sunlight.
• The value of a standard depends on the time period over which the measurement is averaged.

Types of NAAQS

• Primary standards are "health-based" and aim to protect human health and the most sensitive population segments (children, elderly, asthmatics).
• Secondary standards protect general public welfare and prevent damage to public property (animals, plants, property).
• Both primary and secondary NAAQS specify maximum pollutant concentrations in ambient air.

NAAQS (Primary & Secondary) Details

• Specific levels of pollutants like CO, Pb, NO2, O3, PM10, PM2.5, and SO2 have corresponding primary and secondary standards with different averaging periods.
  • Primary and Secondary standards are often the same, in the table.

Air Monitoring

• Air quality monitoring is complex, requiring data collection to understand the dynamic nature of air quality in terms of its spatial and temporal variation.
• Ambient air quality monitoring is the systematic and long-term assessment of air pollutant levels in communities.
• Monitoring is often conducted in urban areas, near large point sources of pollution, or around sensitive environmental receptors.
• The ability to assess air quality depends on accurate, representative data to describe existing conditions and dispersion models.

Stationary Monitoring

• Stationary monitoring networks provide background concentration levels, highest concentration levels, representative levels in high-density areas, impact of local & remote sources, and relative impact of natural/anthropogenic sources.
• Spatial scales include microscale, middle scale, neighborhood scale, urban scale, and regional scale. Corresponding monitoring objectives are also listed.

Mobile Monitoring

• Mobile monitoring uses movable platforms (like aircraft or vehicles) to monitor air quality.
• Monitoring is used to understand atmospheric transport, chemical transformation of pollutants, photochemical smog formation/transport, and dispersion of pollutants from sources.
• Mobile monitoring helps in identifying hot spots with high concentrations of pollutants, often near pollution sources or in areas of unfavourable meteorology.

Air quality in Jordan

• Air quality is a problem in low-lying areas, particularly around high density traffic areas, and industrial activity.

• Most emissions in Jordan result from vehicles, industries, and residential activities.

• Specific percentages of pollutant generation per industry/vehicle type segment are also reported in tables.

• The vehicle fleet is relatively old, and Amman and South Amman experience high levels of vehicle emissions.

• Industrial activities (cement plants, power plants, etc. ) contribute significantly to particulate matter, NOx and other pollutants levels.

Additional Notes

• Specific locations and monitoring institutions for different pollutant sources in Jordan are tabulated.
• Different pollutants have differing monitoring frequencies based on their nature and impact.

Explore the dynamic factors influencing air quality and monitoring through this quiz. Learn about the Clean Air Act (CAA) and National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), and their roles in regulating air pollutants. Test your knowledge and understanding of environmental policies and air quality management.