Air Quality monitoring

(Thad Ghosh)
1. Determine compliance with National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQSs) for various pollutant
categories in air quality control regions (AQCRs)
2. Determine long-term trends
3. Determine human exposures
4. Support the Air Quality Index program
5. Support emissions reduction programs
6. Determine effectiveness of emission control programs
7. Support environmental assessments such as visibility impairment and degradation of watershed
8. Support research efforts designed to determine potential associations between pollutant levels and adverse
health and environmental effects
• Air quality monitoring efforts are important in identifying new
pollutant-related environmental problems (e.g., mercury (Hg)
deposition) and
• tracking changes in tropospheric and stratospheric concentrations of
ozone (O3)-destroying chemicals (as well as O, itself) and atmospheric
concentrations of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO₂),
methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N₂O), and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

•
• The terms ambient air, ambient air pollution, ambient levels, ambient
concentration, ambient air monitoring, ambient air quality occur
frequently.
• The intent is to distinguish pollution of air outdoors by transport and
diffusion by wind (i.e., ambient air pollution) from contamination of
the air indoors by the same substances.
The air inside a factory building can be polluted by release of contaminants from insidustrial processes to the
air of the workroom.
This is a major cause of occupational disease.
Prevention and control of such contamination are part of the practice of industrial hygiene.
To prevent exposure of workers to such contamination, industrial hygienists use industrial ventilation
systems that remove the contaminated air from the workroom and discharge it,
either with or without treatment to remove the contaminants, to the ambient air outside the factory building.
The air inside a home, office, or public building is the subject of much interest and is
referred to as indoor air pollution or indoor air quality.
These interior spaces may be contaminated by such sources as fuel-fired cooking or space-heating ranges,
ovens, or stoves that dis. charge their combustion products to the room; by solvents evaporated
from inks, paints, adhesives, cleaners, or other products; by formaldehyde, radon,
and other products emanating from building materials; and by other pollutant sources indoors .
If some of these sources exist inside a building the pollution level of the indoor air might be
higher than that of the outside air
• However, if none of these sources are inside the building, the pollution
level inside would be expected to be lower than the ambient concentration
outside because of the ability of the surfaces inside the building-walls,
floors, ceilings, furniture, and fixtures to adsorb or react with gaseous
pollutants and attract and retain particulate pollutants, thereby partially
removing them from the air breathed by occupants of the building.
• This adsorption and retention would occur even if doors and windows were
open, but the difference between outdoor and indoor concentrations
would be even greater if they were closed, in which case air could enter the
building only by infiltration through cracks and walls.
Many materials used and dusts generated in buildings and other enclosed spaces are allergenic
to their occupants. Occupants who do not smoke are exposed to tobacco
and its associated gaseous and particulate emissions from those who do.
This occurs to a much greater extent indoors than in the outdoor air. Many ordinances have been
established to limit or prohibit smoking in public and work places. Attempts have been made to
protect occupants of schoolrooms from infections and communicable diseases by using
ultraviolet light or chemicals to disinfect the air.
These attempts have been unsuccessful because disease transmission occurs instead
outdoors and in unprotected rooms
• Averaging time
• The variability inherent in the transport and diffusion process, the time
variability of source strengths, and the scavenging and conversion mecha-
nisms in the atmosphere, which cause pollutants to have an effective half-
life, result in variability in the concentration of a pollutant arriving at a
receptor.
• Thus, a continuous record of the concentration of a pollutant at a receptor,
as measured by an instrument with rapid response, might look like Fig. 4-
1(a).
• If, however, instead of measuring with a rapid-response instrument, the
measurement at the receptor site was made with sampling and analytical
procedures that integrated the concentration arriving at the receptor over
various time periods, e.g., 15 minutes, 1 hour, or 6 hours, the resulting
information would look variously like Figs. 4-1(b), (c), and (d), respectively.
• It should be noted that from the information in Fig. 4- 1(a), it is possible to
derive mathematically the information in Figs. 4-1(b), (c), and (d), and it is
possible to derive the information in Figs. 4-1(c) and (d) from that in Fig. 4-
1(b). The converse is not true.
• With only the informa- tion from Fig. 4-1(d) available, Figs. 4-l(a), (b), and
(c) could never be constructed, nor could Figs. 4-1(a) and (b) be
constructed from Fig. 4-1(с)nor Fig 4.1 (a) from fig. 4.1 (b)
• Fig 4.1
• Cycles
• The most significant of the principal cyclic influences on variability of pollution
concentration at a receptor is the diurnal cycle .
• First, there is a diurnal pattern to source strength. In general, emissions from
almost all categories of sources are less at night than during the day. Factories
and businesses shut down or reduce activity at night.
• There is less automotive, aircraft, and railroad traffic, use of electricity, cooking
home heating, and refuse burning at night. Second, there is a diurnal pattern to
transport and diffusion that will be discussed in detail later in this book.

• The next significant cycle is the weekend-weekday cycle. This is entirely a source
strength cycle associated with the change in the pattern of living on weekends as
compared with weekdays.
• Finally, there is the seasonal cycle associated with the difference in climate and weather
over the four seasons- winter, spring, summer and fall. The climatic changes affect
source strength, and the weather change affect transport and diffusion.
• On the annual basis, some year-to-year changes in source strength may be expected as a
community, a region, a nation, or the world increases in population or changes its
patterns of living.
• Source strength will be reduced if control efforts or changes in technology succeed in
preventing more pollution emission than would have resulted from increases in
population.
• These changes are called trends.
• Although an annual trend in source strength is expected, none is expected in climate or
weather, even though each year will have its own individuality with respect to its
weather.
• Primary and secondary pollutants
• A substantial portion of the gas and vapors emitted to the
atmosphere in appreciable quantity from anthropogenic sources
tends to be relatively simple in chemical structure: carbon dioxide,
carbon monoxide, sulfur diox- ide, and nitric oxide from combustion
processes; hydrogen sulfide, ammo- nia, hydrogen chloride, and
hydrogen fluoride from industrial processes.
• The solvents and gasoline fractions that evaporate are alkanes,
alkenes, and aromatics with relatively simple structures.
• In addition, more complex
molecules such as polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons and dioxins are re- leased
from industrial processes and combustion sources and are referred to as toxic pollutants.
Substances such as these, emitted directly from sources, are called primary pollutants.
They are certainly not innocuous
• Fig 4.6
• Display of air quality data
A very useful format in which to display air quality data for analysis is that of Fig. 4-8,
which has as its abscissa averaging time expressed in two different time units and, as its ordinate,
concentration of the pollutant at the receptor. This type of chart is called an arrowhead chart and includes
enough information to characterize fully the variability of concentration at the receptor.
To understand the meaning of the information given, let us concentrate on the data for 1-hr averaging time.
In the course of a year there will be 8760 such values, one for each hour. If all 8760 are arrayed in decreasing value,
there will be one maximum value and one minimum value. (For some pollutants the minimum value is indefinite
if it is below the minimum detectable value of the analytical method or instrument employed.) In this array,
the value 2628 from the maximum will be the value for which 30% of all values are greater and 70% are lower.
Similarly, the value 876 from the maximum will be the one for which 10% of all values are greater and 90% are lower.
The 1% value will be between the 87th and 88th values from the maximum, and the 0.1% value
will lie between the 8th and 9th values in the array.
• Fig 4.8
• Adverse response to air quality levels
The objective of air pollution control is to prevent adverse responses by all receptor categories exposed to the
atmosphere-human, animal, vegetable, and material.
These adverse responses have characteristic response times-short-term (i.e., seconds or minutes),
intermediate-term (i.e., hours or days), and long-term (i.e., months or years)

For there to be no adverse responses, the pollutant concentration in the air must be lower than
the concentration level at which these responses occur. Figure 4-9 illustrates the relationship
between these concentration levels. This figure displays response curves, which remain on the
concentration duration axes because they are characteristic of the receptors, not of the actual air
quality to which the receptors are exposed.
• Table 4-5
The odor response curve, e.g., to hydrogen sulfide, shows that a single inhalation requiring
approximately 1 sec can establish the presence of the odor but that, due to odor fatigue,
the ability to continue to recognize that odor can be lost in a matter of minutes.
Nasopharyngeal and eye irritation, e.g., by ozone, is similarly subject to acclimatization
due to tear and mucus production.

The three visibility lines correlate with the concentration of suspended particulate matter in the air.
Attack of metal, painted surfaces, or nylon hose is shown by a line starting at 1 sec and terminating
in a matter of minutes (when the acidity of the droplet is neutralized by the material attacked).
Vegetation damage can be measured biologically Usvegen latter measure, there is a 0% loss when
100% los loss of the Using alue of the crops or ornamental plants but a 100% loss if the crop is damaged
to the extent that it cannot be sold. These responses are related to dose, i.e., concentration times duration
of exposure, as shown by the percent loss curves on the chart. A number of manifestations of
material damage, e.g., rubber cracking by ozone, require an exposure duration long enough for the
adverse effects to be significant economically. That is, attack for just a few seconds or minutes will
not affect the utility of the material for its intended use, but attack for a number of days will.

The biological response line for acute respiratory disease is a dose- response curve, which for
a constant concentration becomes a duration- response curve. The shape of such a curve reflects
the ability of the human body to cope with short-term, ambient concentration respiratory exposures
and the overwhelming of the body's defenses by continued exposure.
 Fluorosis of livestock is not induced until there has been a long enough period of
deposition of a high enough ambient concentration of fluoride to increase the level of
fluoride in the forage. Since the forage is either eaten by livestock or cut for hay at least
once during the growing season, the duration of deposition ends after the growing season.
The greater the duration of the season, the greater the time for deposition, hence the shape
of the line labeled "fluorosis." Long-term vegetation responses-decreased yield of fruit
and forest-and long-term material responses corrosion, soiling, and material deterioration-are
shown on the chart as having essen- tially the same response characteristics as human chronic
respiratory dis- ease and lung cancer.
• The relationship of these response curves to ambient air quality is shown
by lines A, B, and C, which represent the maximum or any other chose
percentile line from a display such as Fig. 4-10, which shows actual air
quality. Where the air quality is poor (line A), essentially all the adverse
effects displayed will occur. Where the air quality is good (line C), most of
the intermediate and long-term adverse effects displayed will not occur.
Where the air quality is between good and poor, some of the intermediate
and long-term adverse effects will occur, but in an attenuated form com-
pared with those of poor air quality. These concepts will be referred to
later in this text when air quality standards are discussed.
•
Air Quality Indexes

Air quality indexes have been devised for categorizing the air quality measurements of
several individual pollutants by one composite number. The index used by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency is called the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI)
 • Measurement systems
Many methods of air quality measurement have inherent averaging times.
In selecting methods for measuring air quality or assessing air pollution effects, this fact must be borne in mind

Thus, an appropriate way to assess the influence of air pollution on metals is to expose identical
specimens at different locations and compare their annual rates of corrosion among the several
locations. Since soiling is mainly due to the sedimentation of particulate matter from the air,
experience has shown that this can be conveniently measured by exposing open-topped receptacles
to the atmosphere for a month and weighing the settled solids. Human health seems to be related to
day-to-day variation in pollutant level. It is accepted practice the world over to assess suspended particulate
matter levels in the air by a 24-hour filter sample, which in the United States is acquired by a high-volume
sampler, known to workers in the field as a hi-vol.
Because a filter sample includes particles both larger and smaller than those retained in the human
respiratory system , other types of samplers are used which allow measurement of the size ranges
of particles retained in the respiratory system. Some of these are called dichotomous samplers because
they allow separate measurement of the respirable and nonrespirable fractions of the total. Size-selective
samplers rely on impactors, miniature cyclones, and other means.
 • Monitoring considerations
Air quality monitoring involves numerous measurements of individual pollutants over time at a number
of locations in organized, systematic programs.
Concentration measurements are made from samples of small volumes of ambient air.

Because of the vastness and dynamic nature of the atmosphere, it is not possible to determine the infinite
Number of concentration values typical of individual pollutants.
As in other instances where a population
of values is potentially large, pollutant concentrations must be inferred from a relatively limited number
of samples.
Consequently, they must be determined from fixed-site monitors whose locations reflect
objectives of air quality monitoring programs.
Concentrations are determined by collecting pollutants in or on a sampling medium or in
automated continuous systems, where they are drawn through a sensing device.
In manual methods, sampling and analysis are discrete events, with sample analysis occurring days
to weeks after collection. In automated systems, sampling and analysis are simultaneous or
near-simultaneous events and concentrations are measured in real time.

In manual methods, a sufficient amount of pollutant must be collected to meet the lower limit od detection
(LOD) requirements of the analytical procedure used.
This quantity will depend on the atmospheric concentration and sample size (the volume of air that passes
through or comes in contact with the sampling medium.)
Sample size is a direct function of sampling rate and duration; samples are collected intermittently
Sampling rates for individual pollutants using manual methods reflect collection efficiencies and instrument
limitations. Collection efficiency is the ratio of pollutant
collected to the actual quantity present in the air volume sampled.
It depends on the sampling technique employed and chemical and physical properties
of individual pollutants
For gases, collection efficiency decreases as flow rate increases above optimum value.
Optimum collection efficiencies are often achieved at relatively low sampling rates for gas-phase
contaminants (<1 l/min).
Because of low flow rates or low collected pollutant mass, sampling duration may be extended
to collect a sufficient quantity of pollutant for analysis
For some gas phase substances, refrigeration or use of preservatives sufficient quantity
is necessary to minimize pollutant loss before samples are analyzed.
In continuous real-time sampling, the analytical technique is usually sensitive enough that the sample
size or volume needed to accurately detect and quantify specific pollutants is
relatively small (typically milliliters).
As a consequence, flow rates used in such instruments are also relatively low (milliliters per minute),
and optimal rates of flow are used to achieve the sensitivity and accuracy for which instruments are designed,
• Averaging times
Collection and analytical limitations associated with manual, intermittent methodologies
often require extended sampling durations;
thus, concentration values are integrated or averaged over the sampling period.
Sampling durations required to collect samples, and intended use of the data,
determine the averaging time.
For example, 24-h averages are appropriate for long-term trends.

Real-time air quality monitoring instruments used in the past three-plus decades
provide a continuous record of fluctuating concentrations.
Though such data are deemed more useful than integrated data obtained from intermittent samples,
real- time data are so voluminous that they are, for the most part, uninterpretable.
As a consequence, data from real-time monitoring instruments are integrated to
provided hourly average concentrations or concentrations reflective of the needs of NAAOSS.
For pollutants such as O₂, where peak levels occur for a limited time period,
1and8 hr averaging times are employed
or example, the averaging times for particulate matter with diameters of ≤2.5 µm (PM)
are 24 h and 1 year, but for those with diameters of ≤10 µm (PM), it is 1 year,
for carbon monoxide (CO) and O,, 1 and 8 h; for nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHCS),
3 h; for sulfur dioxide (SO₂), 3 and 24 h and 1 year; for nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), 1 year;
and for lead (Pb), 3 months.
 • Sampling techniques
The principal objective of sampling is to collect a pollutant or pollutants for subsequent
analysis or provide a sensing environment for real-time measurements.
Both require a system whereby gases or particles are drawn to the surface of a
collecting medium or into a sensing environment. These functions are accomplished by
sampling trains that include a vacuum pump, flow regulator, and collecting device or sensing unit.
Sampling trains for gases may also utilize filters to prevent particle from entering the collection unit,
scrubbers for interfering gases, etc
Because of low cost and ease of use, passive sampling techniques were widely used
in the early years of pollution control, These early techniques included the capture of particles on a
sticky paper, collection of settleable particles
in dustfall jars or buckets, and measurement of sulfation rates on lead dioxide-impregnated gauze
covered cylinders (Pb candles). These techniques were relatively crude and abandoned with the
advent of dynamic sampling methods

New developments in passive sampling technology in the past three decades have made passive
sampling a widely accepted and used methodology for personal exposure monitoring in
occupational environments, measurement of indoor air contaminants such as formaldehyde
(HCHO) and radon (Rn), and air quality and health research studies.
Such sampling devices include small badge-type devices, tubes, canisters, etc. . Because of low
cost, passive sampling techniques would be appropriate for use in ambient monitoring activities of
developing nations.
• In grab sampling, air samples are collected in a relatively short time
(seconds or minutes) using a variety of devices.
• Grab sampling is typically used in problem environments (e.g.,
chemical spills) as a means of identifying pollutants and their
concentrations present at the time samples were collected.
• Grab sampling using evacuated canisters for collection and
identification of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is an integral part
of Photochemical Assessment Monitoring Stations (PAMS) network
activities.
•