Professional Documents
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Name ________________________
Air Quality
EPA AirData
I. Learning Objectives
This laboratory exercise will meet the following learning objectives. Students will:
describe various parameters of air quality, list priority pollutants, and interpret the
EPA Air Quality Index
identify an air quality problem that varies on spatial and/or temporal scales
use the US EPA Airdata website data mining tools
generate air quality research questions to ask of available US EPA Airdata
collect appropriate US EPA Airdata information needed to answer those questions
interpret data and draw conclusions regarding air quality
communicate results in the form of a scientific paper
III. Background
Air Pollution
Air pollution describes gases and particulate matter in the air that can cause harm to living
organisms (humans, animals, or plants) or the physical environment. Pollution can originate
from natural sources like volcanoes or from human activities like energy production.
There are five major pollutants released directly into the atmosphere that are known to pose a
health risk - carbon monoxide (CO), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), particulate matter
(PM), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOX). These are called primary air
pollutants. Some of these primary pollutants mix together and in the presence of sunlight,
form new compounds called secondary pollutants. Ozone is an example of a secondary
pollutant.
The U.S. Environmental Pollution Agency (US EPA) is a federal agency charged with
establishing legal air quality standards. The EPA sets national air quality standards for six
common pollutants, called criteria pollutants, to protect public health. Monitoring sites
report data to EPA for these six criteria air pollutants:
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Air Quality Inquiry
Ozone (O3)
Lead (Pb)
Sulfur Dioxide (SO2)
Particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5)
Carbon Monoxide (CO)
Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
Many of pollutant that humans are exposed to through the air are capable of modifying human
physiological systems. Examples of effects on human biology include effects on cardiac
function, cancer rates, growth, sperm quality, changes in fertility and pregnancy outcomes,
obesity, diabetes, respiratory ailments, rates of sexual maturation, and cognitive function, (for
examples see: Schell and Denham, 2003; Kampa and Castanas, 2008; Schell et al., 2010;
Anderson et al., 2012, Frutos et al., 2015, Bos et al., 2014, Staneck et al. 2011).
Air quality describes the quality of the air in relation to impacts on environmental and human
health. Air Quality tells us how healthy the air is for both human and environmental health.
Bad air quality means that breathing the air can potentially harm living organisms.
The AQI is an index for reporting daily air quality. It is calculated based on the levels of five
pollutants in the air:
ground-level ozone,
particle pollution,
carbon monoxide,
nitrogen dioxide, and
sulfur dioxide.
Monitors across the country record the concentrations of these pollutants each day. The
higher the AQI value, the greater the level of air pollution and the greater the health concerns.
From the U.S. government website on Air Quality (AirNow.gov), listing six categories of AQI:
"Good" AQI is 0 - 50. Air quality is considered satisfactory, and air pollution poses little or no risk.
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"Moderate" AQI is 51 - 100. Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants there may be a
moderate health concern for a very small number of people. For example, people who are unusually
sensitive to ozone may experience respiratory symptoms.
"Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" AQI is 101 - 150. Although general public is not likely to be affected
at this AQI range, people with lung disease, older adults and children are at a greater risk from exposure
to ozone, whereas persons with heart and lung disease, older adults and children are at greater risk from
the presence of particles in the air. .
"Unhealthy" AQI is 151 - 200. Everyone may begin to experience some adverse health effects, and
members of the sensitive groups may experience more serious effects. .
"Very Unhealthy" AQI is 201 - 300. This would trigger a health alert signifying that everyone may
experience more serious health effects.
"Hazardous" AQI greater than 300. This would trigger a health warning of emergency conditions. The
entire population is more likely to be affected.
2) List the six common pollutants for which the EPA has developed national standards.
3) For the month of July 2012, Los Angeles, California reported an average daily AQI of
158. For this same month, Chicago, Illinois reported an average daily AQI of 142. Which
city appears to have the greater amount of air pollution? What are some potential causes
for this difference?
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4) From the Scientific American reading, name some of the the air pollutants thought to
contribute to human suffering in East St. Louis. Which four pollutants are found at high
levels in East St. Louis that have known mechanisms by which they make asthma worse?
V. Getting to know the AirData website
A) The AirData website is a
website developed by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) to give the public access to air
quality data collected at outdoor
monitors across the United States,
Puerto Rico, and the U. S. Virgin
Islands.
Go to:
http://www.epa.gov/airdata/index.
html
The Interactive Map can be used to gather pollutant information for specific monitoring sites.
To select a spatial area of interest, zoom into the area of interest. You can then click on one of
the monitoring sites to gather information about that monitoring site and to download the
pollution data for that site.
In this laboratory exercise you will be asked to use the data available in the AirData
website to address a question you pose about air pollution. What follows is an example
of such a question and how one might use the data available to address this question.
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Air Quality Inquiry
The steps for determining pollution trends over time for a specific area are:
1) In the Interactive Map, zoom into the area of interest. For this example, the boundaries
of the Phillips Neighborhood in Minneapolis, MN are:
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2) after you have zoomed in to the area of interest, on the right side of the Interactive Map,
click on the pollutant(s) of interest to show the monitors available in the area,
3) click on the monitor of interest. When the monitor’s information box opens, scroll
down to the bottom to find a list of the years that the pollutant was measured for that site,
4) for each year of interest, click on that year, download the data, and pull out the
pollution information to analyze.
Important: If you want Daily values, make sure you download the “Daily” data. In the
“Annual” data sheets, there is only one yearly summary row for each pollutant.
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5) When you download the data, carefully examine the column headings so that you
understand what is in each column. A good strategy is to copy only those columns
that you need into a new worksheet, either in the current Excel workbook, or into a
new Excel workbook. If you need help, ask a classmate or the TA.
Here’s an example of the 2002 PM2.5 data downloaded from the above monitoring
site.
Note that you will need to find the pollutant of interest listed under the column
labeled as “Parameter Name.” Other useful columns include: Date, Day in Year, Units
of Measure and Arithmetic Mean (the measured value).
There are a variety of other measurements that are listed under “Parameter Name.”
You might find some additional interesting and useful pollution measurements to
add to your data analysis.
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6) These data can be used to compare two different locations. As an example, the
monitored pollution in the Phillips Neighborhood can be compared to pollution levels in
the more affluent St. Louis Park area.
This is a graph of PM2.5 values measured in the Phillips Neighborhood (dashed line)
versus those found in St. Louis Park, MN area (solid line). During this time period (May,
2001), levels of atmospheric fine particulate matter were almost always higher in the
Phillips Neighborhood.
7) These data can also be used to compare two different time periods. For the Phillips
Neighborhood, graphing the monitored sulfate levels reveals that comparing 2002 and
2012, most monitored sulfates levels were lower in 2012.
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8) Think about the above two figures. What would you conclude from them? How could the
analysis be improved? Would including more date be helpful?
You can manipulate and graph your data in any software of your choice. If you choose to
graph in Excel and need help with creating an Excel graph, read Appendix I below. You can
also ask other classmates or your TA for help.
A) Example Questions
There are a variety of questions that can be asked of monitored pollution data. You need to
be specific about what you are asking and why.
Examples include:
1) What are the differences in summer/fall/annual (pick a time frame) of XYZ pollutant (pick
one or more pollutants) between explicitly chosen two (or more) cities?
Note that this type of question needs to be more specific – for example - you could examine
and compare high population cities (ex: Los Angeles, CA or Chicago, IL), or small, rural towns
or cities.
You should state a reason for asking the question – for example: Given the concerns about air
pollution from frac sand mining, what is the difference in particulate matter pollution between
monitoring stations adjacent to a silica sand mining operation compared to those farther away
from these operations?
2) You could also choose one location and ask what the changes in certain pollutants might be
over time. For example, you might ask what the difference is in atmospheric ozone levels for
Duluth, Minnesota between 1990 and 2010. Your reason for asking could be to see the
impacts of a rise in population or increased road traffic.
You would pull the appropriate data out of the AirData website and answer your question by
analyzing the data to see if ozone has decreased or increased over that time period.
U.S. Census data provides some helpful maps that can give you special information about
factors that might affect air quality such as population density, age, race, agricultural status,
income, etc. See the following links for examples of some of the data available and feel
free to explore other sources as well.
https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/maps/thematic.html
www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/maps/datamapper.html
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In your group, brainstorm some questions that investigate air pollution in different spatial
locations or over varying time scales. Ask your TA for help as needed. Decide on a final
question and what data you will need to address that question. Then use the tools on the
AirData website to pull the data needed to answer your question.
A template for your lab report is provided below. In short your lab report should include
your group’s question, your motivation for asking the question, the data that you pulled from
the AirData website that address your question, a figure showing the results of your inquiry,
and a half-page write-up discussing what you found and what you conclude.
Introduction
What question did you ask? What was your motivation or reasoning for asking this
question?
Discussion
What conclusions can you draw from your study?
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TOTAL: ___/24
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References
Anderson, J.O., J.G. Thundiyil and A. Stolbach. 2012. Clearing the air: a review of particulate matter
air pollution on human health. Journal of Medical Toxicology. 8(2): 166-175.
Bos, I., De Boever, P., Int Panis, L., Meeusen, R. 2014. Physical Activity, Air Pollution and the Brain.
Sports Medicine. 44: 1505-1518.
Frutos, V., González-Comadrán, M., Solà, I., Jacquemin, B., Carreras, R., and Checa Vizcaíno, M.
2015. Impact of air pollution on fertility: a systematic review. Gynecological Endocrinology.
31(1): 7-13.
Gammon, G. 2012. Pollution, Poverty and People of Color: Asthma and the Inner City. Scientific
American. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pollution-poverty-people-color-asthma-
inner-city/. Last accessed 16 February 2015.
Kampa, M. and E. Castanas. 2008. Human health effects of air pollution. Environmental Pollution.
151:362-367.
Schell, L.M. and M. Denham. 2003. Environmental pollution in urban environments and human
biology. Annual Review of Anthropology. 32:111-134.
Schell, L.M., K.K. Burnitz and P.W. Lathrop. 2010. Pollution and human biology. Annals of Human
Biology. 37(3):347-366.
Stanek, L., Brown, J., Stanek, J., Gift, J., and Cotsta, D. 2011. Air Pollution Toxicology – A
Brief Review of the Role of the Science in Shaping the Current Understanding of
Airpollution Health Risks. Toxicological Sciences. 120 (S1) S8-S27
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