The Environment and You:Find Air Quality Information

Helena VonVille, MLSLibrary DirectoryUniversity of Texas School of Public

Health at Houston

Harris County Public Library

What is the air quality?

National air quality standardsWhat is considered unhealthy or

dangerous?Air Quality Index

Air Emissions Events ReportReviewed in Releases presentationSee the last item in the table of

contentsAir Quality in Texas’ Metro Areas

National Ambient Air Quality Standards

Established by the Environmental Protection Agency

Intended to protect the public from exposure to harmful pollutants

Includes 6 pollutants: Ozone Particulate matter Carbon monoxide Sulfur dioxide Lead Nitrogen dioxide

Houston/Galveston/ Brazoria has exceeded the ozone standard and is not in “attainment”

National Air Quality Standards

From: http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/compliance/monitoring/air/monops/naaqs.html

National Air Quality Standards

From: http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/compliance/monitoring/air/monops/naaqs.html

Air Quality Index (AQI)

Air Quality Index is determined in the following way: Ozone:

Based on either the peak 8-hour average since midnight OR the peak one-hour measurement since midnight

85 ppb or parts per billion for an 8-hour average exceeds the NAAQS; 125 ppb for a 1-hour measurement exceeds NAAQS

Houston area held to the 1-hour Sulfur dioxide and Particulate matter

24-hour average Carbon monoxide

Peak 9-hour running average since midnightFrom: http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/compliance/monitoring/air/monops/aqi_interpret.html

What is the Air Quality Index?

Index for reporting daily air quality5 major pollutants regulated by the

Clean Air ActGround-level ozoneParticle pollution (particulate matter)Carbon monoxideSulfur dioxideNitrogen dioxide

Air Quality Index (cont’d)

Air Quality in Texas’ Metro Areas

Air quality index for February 10, 2005

Click on any of the green boxes to pull up a more extensive report for that area.

In this case, the Houston Metro Area has been selected

Report for Houston Metro Area

Here is the report for the Houston Area. Let’s break it down to see if we can understand what it is telling us.

Report Components

Date and time the report was generated is shown. You can select a different date if you wish. The first column

shows the monitoring station. Then we see a general description of Air Quality and the Critical Pollutant, i.e. the one that is causing the most concern.

The last columns show the Air Quality Index (AQI) Rating for each pollutant.

Report for Houston Metro Area (cont’d)

Particulate matter is the pollutant of concern although it is not high.

To learn more about air quality in Channelview, click on it.

Channelview Air Quality

Click on Current Measurements at Channelview C15/A115 to view all of the currently available air quality recordings.

Channelview Report 2/10/2005

The numbers in bold show the high point for that row for the day.

Definitions in the Side Bar

Information on the environmental standard can be found by clicking on any of the links in the sidebar.

Search for a Different Date

You can search for a specific day as well as have the report highlight times by checking the boxes below the date/time format.

Search for a Different Date (cont’d)

Ozone is highlighted here in yellow as it has gone over 80 which makes it at an unhealthy level for some people.

Create a Monthly Report

From the Channelview main page, click on the link to Monthly Summary Report.

Report for October 2004

Select the month and year, and select the topic of the report you want. Click Generate Report.

Ozone ppb in October 2004

This report provides an hourly account by day of the parameter searched. In this example, a report was created that displayed ozone (parts per billion). There were several hours on October 4th when ozone reached an unhealthy level.

Take me to HAPs

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