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Pollutants of Concern in North America and Europe

Pollutants of Concern in North America and Europe. John G. Watson (john.watson@dri.edu) Judith C. Chow Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV, USA presented at The Workshop on Air Quality Management, Measurement, Modeling, and Health Effects University of Zagreb Zagreb, Croatia May 24, 2007.

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Pollutants of Concern in North America and Europe

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  1. Pollutants of Concern in North America and Europe John G. Watson (john.watson@dri.edu) Judith C. ChowDesert Research Institute, Reno, NV, USA presented at The Workshop on Air Quality Management, Measurement, Modeling, and Health Effects University of Zagreb Zagreb, Croatia May 24, 2007

  2. Objectives • Identify air pollutants and reasons for concern • Describe different approaches to improving air quality

  3. Several air pollutant categories and concerns • Criteria Pollutants • indicators of air quality with maximum concentrations above which adverse effects on human health may occur (CO, SO2, NO2, O3, Pb, PM [TSP, RSP, PM10, PM2.5]) • Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs, or toxics) • emissions known or suspected to cause cancer or other serious health effects, such as reproductive effects, birth defects, or other adverse environmental effects (many VOCs, metals, PAHs, diesel particles) • Acid Deposition • highly oxidizing pollutants that destroy forests, crops, lakes (H2SO4, HNO3, O3)

  4. Several air pollutant categories and concerns • Material Damage • reactive or decolorizing pollutants that destroy or soil buildings, clothing, vehicles, antiquities (SO2, H2SO4, HNO3, O3, soot [BC: black carbon], soil dust) • Odors • unpleasant olfactory experiences (reduced sulfur compounds, certain VOCs) • Mercury • included in HAPs, but also results in bioaccumulation in lakes and fish through deposition

  5. Several air pollutant categories and concerns • Visibility Reducing Gases and PM • PM2.5 components, including sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, organic carbon, elemental carbon, sea salt, and soil. NO2 absorbs light in plumes • Halocarbons • deplete stratospheric O3 (Freon-12, SF6, halon, other fluorocarbons) • Climate Forcing Gases and PM • change the Earth’s radiation balance directly by absorbing electromagnetic radiation or indirectly by changing cloud cover and water vapor (CO2, CH4, halocarbons, BC, ultrafine particles)

  6. Same pollutants in several categories • Many pollutants are in several regulatory categories (e.g., SO2, NOx, VOCs, SO4=, NO3-, BC) • Several pollutants come from similar activities (coal burning, industrial processes, vegetative burning, transportation, windblown dust) • Several have similar spatial scales and lifetimes • Microscale (10 to 100 m) and Middle-scale (100 to 500 m): odors, traffic, HAPs, dustfall • Neighborhood-scale (500 m to 4 km): vehicle exhaust, residential heating and burning, primary industrial emissions • Urban-scale (4 to 100 km): O3, secondary sulfates and nitrates • Regional-scale (100 to 1,000 km): O3, secondary sulfates and nitrates, forest fires, regional haze • Continental-scale (1,000 to 10,000 km): large scale fires, Asian and Saharan dust • Global-scale (>10,000 km): greenhouse gases, halocarbons, BC

  7. Several methods for air pollution control • Ambient air quality standards • Emission limits (with certification tests) • Effluent treatment requirements (Reasonably Available, Best Available, Lowest Achievable Emissions Technologies) • Product design specification • Fuel specifications (with certification tests) • Emission fees and fines • Congestion pricing • Forced shutdowns • Emissions caps and trading • Inspection and Maintenance programs • Energy efficiency requirements • Demonstrated reasonable progress

  8. Ambient air quality standards are basis for regulation

  9. Elements of an air quality standard • Evidence of association with adverse health effects • Indicator (e.g., O3 for oxidants, PM2.5 for PM) associated with (but not necessarily the only cause of) effects • Averaging time(s) (some effect acute, others long term) • Threshold concentration (set to protect public health with a safety margin) • Form (e.g., number of exceedances allowed) • Enforcement and penalties (EU has limit values and less strict target values. US has timelines for attainment and potential for sanctions)

  10. Levels for adverse health differ by pollutantCO has well defined chemical character and health end-point

  11. SO2 is well defined pollutant, but with several health end-points

  12. The PM-mortality effect estimates are consistently larger for longer time scales of exposure. PM has multiple components and multiple health end-points

  13. Air quality progress in Europe and the US • CO, SO2, NO2, and Pb standards are largely met in U.S. and Europe • Pb no longer used as a fuel additive • Most sulfur removed from diesel and gasoline fuels • New industrial sources have SO2, NOx, and PM emission controls • On-road diesel engine emissions requirements • Montreal Protocol on fluorocarbon releases • Regional emission caps for industrial SO2 and NOx

  14. EURO passenger car emissions standards (g/km)

  15. Counties Exceeding the Ozone and PM2.5 NAAQS in 2002 Ozone Nonattainment (226 Counties) PM2.5 Nonattainment (49 Counties) Both Nonattainment (71 Counties) Problem: O3 and PM2.5 are remaining problems at local and regional levels

  16. Emerging air quality issues • Greenhouse gases and particles: How can these emissions be reduced along with other pollutants? How can they be regulated? • Long-range transport: Emissions from China, India, Latin America, and Africa are rising and affect concentrations in Europe and the U.S. How can these emissions be controlled? • Multi-pollutant control strategies and effects: Are individual pollutant regulations still adequate? • Ultrafine particles: Are these the real causes of PM health effects? • Unintended consequences: How to anticipate people’s reaction to pollution regulations?

  17. Vehicle Exhaust, Residential Heating and Cooking ParticleDiameter(nm) Vehicle Exhaust Photochemical Nucleation dN/dlogDp (number cm-3) Ultrafine particles come from primary emitters and form in the atmosphere

  18. Saharan dust affects southern Europe

  19. Conclusions • Criteria pollutants (CO, SO2, NO2, O3, Pb, and PM [TSP, RSP, PM10, PM2.5]) are the basis for air quality regulation, but they are not the only ones of importance • Europe and US have successfully reduced exposures to CO, SO2, NO2, and Pb, but O3 and PM are still of concern • Remaining pollutants have regional sources and require regional strategies for reduction • Emerging economies (China, India, etc) are increasing emissions, and these affect Europe and the US • Greenhouse gases and particles that affect climate and ultrafine particles that affect health will become more important pollutants to be regulated in the future

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