Showing papers on "Air quality index published in 1974"

Hydrocarbon composition of urban air pollution

Abstract: AIR SAMPLES WERE COLLECTED AT SITES IN LOS ANGELES AND NEW YORK TO EVALUATE COMPOSITIONAL DETAIL OF THE HYDROCARBONS AND OXIDES OF NITROGEN. THE COMPOSITIONAL DETAILS PROVIDE A WEALTH OF INFORMATION ALLOWING FOR THE ESTIMATION OF SOURCE CONTRIBUTION AND PHOTOCHEMICAL POTENTIAL OF AN AMBIENT ATMOSPHERE. THE NEED TO INVENTORY AN AMBIENT ATMOSPHERE FOR SOURCE CONTRIBUTION IS IMPORTANT FOR EVALUATING CONTROL STRATEGY REQUIRED TO MEET AIR QUALITY STANDARDS. THE MANUSCRIPT DESCRIBES TWO METHODS FOR ESTIMATING VEHICULAR HYDROCARBONS IN AN AMBIENT ATMOSPHERE.

Economic air pollution control model for Los Angeles County in 1975-Part I

Abstract: An economic air pollution control model is formulated for determining the least cost of reaching various air quality levels. The model takes the form of a general, nonlinear, mathematical programming problem. The two basic inputs to this model are the least cost of attaining various emission levels and the relationship between emission levels and air quality. A linear programming submodel is presented for deriving the first input, the control cost-emission level relationship. Empirical-statistical air quality submodels are outlined for obtaining the second input, the emission level-air quality relationship. The combination of these two inputs to solve the nonlinear programming problem is illustrated graphically. Part II of this paper (page 816) applies the model to photochemical smog in Los Angeles in 1975.

Air quality control.

Abstract: I would like to second the policies advocated in Philip H. Abelson's editorial \"Water pollution abatement: Goals and costs\" (28 June, p. 1333). One item that needs to be further discussed is the impact on human health and survival of spending money to clean up pollution. Abelson notes that industry will have to invest an additional $8 billion to meet 1977 requirements of \"best practicable\" water pollution control technology at existing plants. However, industry will have to spend an additional $9.5 billion to meet the 1977 standards for thermal discharges. The costs for thermal plant discharge elimination then exceed those from all other industrial wastes put together. When one compares the known incidence of disease and environmental destruction from the discharge of heavy metals, carcinogens, mutagens, pesticides, and so forth, to the known incidence of disease from thermal discharges (zero), one is somewhat appalled at the relative emphasis given to the thermal pollution abatement. A more realistic approach would be to evaluate each discharge in place and compare the benefits to be achieved by its elimination or reduction with the costs to achieve such benefits. From this a more realistic standard could be set (1). Although the Environmental Protection Agency is supposed to be a total. environmental agency, it appears that' the waste effluent standards are set without regard to the effects on the atmosphere and lithosphere. In the case of thermal pollution elimination standards, these effects would include the environmental costs of treatment of the chemicals concentrated in the circulating cooling water (possibly an even more severe environmental insult than the hot water); the decrease in efficiency and consequent increase in air pollution resulting from the greater use of fossil fuels in central generating stations; and the fog, drift, icing, and acidic rains that occur in the immediate vicinity of plants because of the combination of sulfur dioxide from power plant stacks and the water vapor

Air Pollution and Corporate Power: Municipal Reform Limits In A Black City:

Abstract: This article on air pollution politics attempts to explain why a reforming black administration in Gary, Indiana has been unable to significantly ameliorate the problem of acute air pollution in that city. Gary is an industrial city of 175,000 people, the majority of whom are black. Since 1968 the Mayor of Gary has been an insurgent black politician. Richard Gordon Hatcher. The city’s economy is dominated by the Gary Works of the United States Steel Corporation, the nation’s largest integrated steel works, whose annual capacity is eight million tons, and which employs 25,000 workers. Gary was originally built by U.S. Steel as a company town and the Corporation’s impact on the local political scene continues to be pervasive.’ To understand the relatively narrow impact of municipal efforts to end the massive local air pollution caused by Gary Works effluents we first outline the nature and history of the problem and the political response to it. Then we discuss the reform efforts of the Hatcher ad-

Trace Metals in the St. Louis Aerosol

Abstract: The elemental composition of the St. Louis aerosol has been investigated at rooftop sites in south and central locations in the city as part of the August, 1973 field season of the Regional Air Pollution Study of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Sampling by 5-stage cascade impactor with backup filter permits analysis by proton-induced x-ray emission (PIXE) of size fractions of aerodynamic diameter >4, >2m >1, >0.5, >0.25, <0.25µm for elements 16S to 35Br by K x-ray detection and 82Pb by L x-rays. The aerosol study indicates the following: 1. Particle size distributions of S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, V, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Br, and Pb can be measured in samples from 0.7 m3 of air collected over 12-hour intervals at 1 liter/min flow rate, with precision of single analyses generally 10-30%, except near the nanogram detection limit. 2. Some elements, e.g. Ca, Fe, Ti, K show a tendency for highest concentrations in air measured in largest particle size fractions, and the pattern of distribution of concentration with size is relatively invariant. Predominantly dispersion source processes may account for their entry into the atmosphere. 3. Other elements, e.g. S, Pb, Zn, have substantial proportions of their atmospheric concentrations on smallest particles and show greater variability in particle size distribution patterns, suggesting aerosol formation processes of vapor condensation at high or low temperatures. 4. During 16-22 August 1973 an atmospheric change occurred from a period of low speed and mostly southerly air flow, with evident haze and air pollution, to higher speed and westerly shifting to easterly air flow, with improved visibility and air quality. The change was associated with drops in concentrations of Ti, Fe, Ca, K, and S but not Zn or Pb at the south site and Ti but not the other elements at the central site. Transport of air pollution from industrial sources south of the city is indicated. 5. The central site showed diurnal variation during the first period where concentrations of Ti, Fe, Ca, K, and S were higher in samples taken from midnight to noon than in those from noon to midnight. Variations were greatest for intermediate sized particles. (Less)

Joint strategies for urban transportation, air quality and energy conservation. joint action programs

Abstract: This report develops an integrated approach for resolving problems created by traffic congestion, air pollution, and petroleum shortages. In Part 1, the basic relationships among the strategies and actions are summarized in a matrix display. Each item is ranked to access its impact on six subgoals, or phenomena, in the near or long term: improved auto alternative, improved vehicular flow; reduced auto use; reduced travel demand; reduced vehicular emissions; and reduced vehicular petroleum consumption. Two synergistic joint action programs are presented. Part II contains an information review of experience, impacts on goals (mobility, air quality, energy conservation), and an overall evaluation of 54 specific actions.

Air quality sensing apparatus

Abstract: An air quality sensing apparatus for measuring, monitoring and controlling temperature and air relative humidity of air interior a room, including an apertured housing enclosing temperature and humidity sensing devices and an asperating tube fluidly interconnecting the interior of the housing and a return air system.

On meeting the provisions of the clean air act

Abstract: A general structure is proposed for determining a set of long-term (multi-year) source control measures which achieve specified levels of air quality for an airshed at least cost. Such a structure is useful in evaluating alternative air pollution abatement strategies from the standpoint of air quality and total cost. The theory is applied to the problem of evaluating sets of control actions over the period 1973-1975 in Los Angeles. Costs of achieving various levels of air quality in Los Angeles over this period are determined.

Cost-effectiveness of a uniform national sulfur emissions tax

Abstract: The following topics are discussed: the application of emissions taxes for pollution control; analysis of the effectiveness and costs of a tax on sulfur emissions; source-by-source analysis of the effectiveness and costs of a tax on sulfur emissions; and impact of sulfur tax on air quality in two hypothetical air quality control regions. (HLN)

A New Approach to Setting Vehicle Emission Standards

Abstract: Urban ambient air quality trend analysis was evaluated as an alternative to rollback analysis to estimate vehicle emission standards needed to achieve national ambient air quality standards. Examination of the trends of monthly maximum 8 hour average carbon monoxide concentrations, central business district traffic activity, and emission rates from vehicles on the road suggests that the automotive exhaust emission standard for carbon monoxide derived in response to the requirements of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1970 may be ten times too severe. The excessive stringency of the vehicle emission standard for carbon monoxide was confirmed by two different analyses of the correlation between annual mean carbon monoxide concentration and frequency of occurrence of carbon monoxide concentrations above the level of the 8-hour standard. One correlation analysis using all available CAMP data involved an empirical approach and the other assumed that carbon monoxide concentrations are described by the lognormal ...

Air pollution patterns in an urban street canyon

Abstract: HIGH CONCENTRATIONS OF CARBON MONOXIDE IN AN URBAN STREET CANYON ARE KNOWN TO ACCOMPANY PERIODS OF SLIGHT ATMOSPHERIC DISPERSION. IT IS FOUND THAT DURING SUCH EPISODES, CERTAIN INDIVIDUAL OR COMBINED MICRO-METEOROLOGICAL AND SOURCE VARIABLES DOMINATE THE INTERACTION DURING CERTAIN TIME SEGMENTS OF THE DAY. FOR THE EARLY MORNING HOURS, THE LAPSE RATE CAN BE USED AS A GOOD PREDICTOR OF THE RESULTANT CO CONCENTRATION. TRAFFIC COUNT IS THE DOMINANT VARIABLE THEN AT ALL HOURS, EXCEPT THE EARLY AFTERNOON PERIOD WHEN THE WIND SPEED IS THE MOST DOMINANT. MODEL EQUATIONS DEVELOPED FROM STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF FIELD DATA GENERALIZE TO THE THREE-DIMENSIONAL AIR QUALITY ASPECTS OF THE PARTICULAR URBAN ROADWAY SECTION STUDIED AND TO THOSE DISPLAYING SIMILAR CHARACTERISTICS AND WEATHER CONDITIONS. /AUTHOR/