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Particulate Matter Concentration and Air Quality Affected by Windblown Dust in the Columbia Plateau
Author(s) -
Sharratt B. S.,
Lauer D.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of environmental quality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1537-2537
pISSN - 0047-2425
DOI - 10.2134/jeq2006.0212
Subject(s) - particulates , quality standard , environmental science , national ambient air quality standards , atmospheric sciences , dust storm , plateau (mathematics) , air quality index , aerosol , meteorology , hydrology (agriculture) , environmental chemistry , chemistry , geography , mathematics , geology , geotechnical engineering , mathematical analysis , organic chemistry , chromatography
The USEPA has proposed to regulate PM coarse (particulate matter 2.5 to 10 μm in diameter). Exceedance of the proposed National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for PM coarse is expected within the Columbia Plateau of the Pacific Northwest United States based on the high frequency of dust storms and the large contribution of crustal material to fugitive dust in the region. The objective of this study was to explore the implication of the proposed NAAQS for PM coarse on air quality. Concurrent observations of both PM10 (particulate matter ≤10 μm in diameter) and PM fine (particulate matter ≤2.5 μm in diameter) were made at Kennewick, WA from 1999 through 2005. Daily PM coarse concentration was determined as the difference between PM10 and PM fine concentrations. The number of exceedances of the proposed USEPA NAAQS for PM coarse was determined for various levels of the standard (the proposed daily level is 70 μg m −3 ). Over the 7 yr of this study, the PM10 standard was exceeded on 16 d with PM fine constituting 4 to 7% of PM10. The proposed PM coarse standard would have been exceeded on 35 d and represents a 120% increase in the number of exceedances over the current PM10 standard. Changing the level of the proposed PM coarse standard to that of the current PM10 standard (150 μg m −3 ) would result in a 20% decrease in the number of exceedances of the PM standard. The results of this study suggest that the proposed NAAQS for PM fine and PM coarse will be exceeded more frequently than the current PM fine and PM10 standard in a region subject to seasonal dust storms.