Study Finds Environmental Education Programs Lead to Cleaner Air

National Environmental Education Week: April 12-18

(Washington, D.C. – April 13, 2009) A first of its kind study funded by EPA shows that environmental education programs are an effective tool in helping to improve air quality in North America.

"This study shows a valuable connection between better environmental education and cleaner air in our communities," said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. "With the right information, people can make a real difference in the places where they live, work, play and learn."

Nearly half of the surveyed institutions hosting education programs reported an improvement in air quality at their facilities due to actions taken by students, including doing service-learning projects and fostering community partnerships. Examples include decreased levels of carbon monoxide and mold, and enactment of a policy that decreased car or bus idling. An additional 43 percent of the surveyed programs reported some kind of action was taken to improve the environment.

Some examples include:
· East Valley Middle School (Wash.) where students monitored school indoor air quality and worked with school administrators to implement structural cha nges resulting in improved carbon dioxide, air flow, particulate levels, odors and mold.
· Exeter High School (N.H.) where students studied air quality issues and monitored car pooling and bus idling in the school drop-off area, leading to a no-idling policy and installation of no-idling signs.
· Greater Egleston Community High (Mass.) where student actions helped lead to the installation of a local air quality monitoring station, a change in fuels by city buses, and city-wide bus idling restrictions.

EPA worked with the National Park Service Conservation Study Institute, Shelburne Farms, and a group of environmental researchers, educators and psychologists to complete the study. Information on the study: http://www.epa.gov/education/

EPA Names Priority Schools for Monitoring Toxic Outdoor Air Pollution

In an unprecedented effort to help protect children from toxic air pollution around schools, EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson announced a list of schools that will undergo outdoor air monitoring.

“As a mother, I understand that concerned parents deserve this information as quickly as we can gather and analyze it,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “EPA, state, and local officials are mobilizing to determine where elevated levels of toxics pose a threat, so that we can take swift action to protect our children at their schools.”

EPA, state and local agencies will work together to monitor air toxics around 62 schools in 22 states that are located near large industrial facilities or in urban areas. EPA identified these schools for monitoring based on information that raised questions about air quality. That information included the best data available to EPA scientists about air pollution in the vicinity of schools, results of a computer modeling analysis, results from a recent newspaper analysis, and information from state and local air agencies.

Depending on the availability of staff and equipment, monitoring at some schools on the list will begin almost immediately; other schools will begin monitoring over the next 60 to 90 days. State and local air agencies will install and operate the monitors, while EPA will purchase the monitors and pay for laboratory analysis.

State and local agencies will take periodic samples of the air around the schools for a 60-day period. EPA will analyze the results of the monitoring and share the information with the schools and the public. EPA will use the information gathered in this initiative to determine how best to move forward, which could require additional monitoring or enforcement action where appropriate.

EPA and states will work with school communities to ensure they understand the monitoring results. In addition to monitoring the outdoor air quality, EPA also will help interested schools improve the quality of their indoor air.

To learn more about this program and to view the list of schools that are part of the monitoring initiative: http://www.epa.gov/schoolair

Protecting American Health from Global Shipping Pollution

"Emission Control Area" Means Healthier Air for Millions of Americans

WASHINGTON, March 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new report released today finds that more than 87 million Americans live in port areas that are not meeting federal health-based air quality standards. The report, Protecting American Health from Global Shipping Pollution, documents the public health effects associated with air pollution from global shipping, including container ships, tankers, cruise ships, and bulk carriers. The report, released by the American Lung Association, Environmental Defense Fund, National Association of Clean Air Agencies, and Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, is available online at: www.edf.org/documents/9466_ECA_report_March2009.pdf.

The coalition strongly encourages and supports action by the U.S. government that to apply to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) for the establishment of an Emission Control Area: an area where rigorous pollution limits apply to global shipping activity. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson will announce the U.S. application to the IMO during a noon news conference today in Port Newark, NJ. Foreign-flagged vessels make 90 percent of the ship calls on U.S. ports. Leading researchers estimate that shipping pollution is associated with 60,000 global deaths annually. EPA's Analysis shows that the establishment of an Emission Control Area could dramatically reduce lethal particulate pollution in U.S. coastal communities.

COALITION STATEMENTS

Statement of Captain Charles D. Connor, U.S. Navy (Ret.), American Lung Association President and CEO: "In my career as a U.S. Navy Captain, I saw firsthand the staggering amounts of pollution that cruise ships, container ships, tankers and other ocean-going vessels released into the atmosphere. These ships dock at more than 100 ports along our coastline and along navigable waterways far inland. Their smog- and soot-forming emissions threaten the health of those living far from our nation's maritime ports."

Statement of Vickie Patton, Deputy General Counsel, Environmental Defense Fund: "The dangerous air pollution from these floating smokestacks is a serious health threat to tens of millions of Americans who live and work in port cities. Cleaning up these big ships will chart a course for cleaner air and healthier communities."

Statement of Bill Becker, Executive Director, National Association of Clean Air Agencies: "These big ships are big emitters. We need all hands on deck to help state and local air pollution control officials reduce the pollution from global shipping and restore healthier air in our communities."

Statement of Dennis McLerran, Executive Director, Puget Sound Clean Air Agency: "Approval of an Emission Control Area for the coasts of North America at the earliest possible date will save hundreds of lives across the U.S. and Canada. In the Pacific Northwest, ocean-going ships travel hundreds of miles inland before reaching the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma and we will see significant air quality improvements in a wide area of Washington State when an ECA is put in place."

BACKGROUND

An Emission Control Area, or ECA, would provide the strongest clean air standards available under international law. It would dramatically improve fuel quality and reduce smog-forming oxides of nitrogen for all ocean-going ships in the exclusive economic zone of the United States, an area that typically extends about 200 nautical miles from the coast. To secure these vital protections, the U.S. government must submit an application to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) demonstrating the need to prevent, reduce and control global shipping emissions. The IMO would review the application at its July meeting and take final action on the U.S. request in 2010.

Container ships, tankers and the other large sea-going vessels that dock at more than 100 U.S. port cities burn low grade "residual fuel" or "bunker fuel" that is a major source of air pollution, including the formation of particulate pollution. Residual fuel contains sulfur levels 1,800 times greater than U.S. law allows for other diesel engines. A recent study by two leading researchers on shipping pollution, Corbett and Winebrake, shows shipping-related particulate pollution contributes to approximately 60,000 global deaths annually, with impacts concentrated in coastal regions on major trade routes.

In October 2008, the IMO, with active participation from the U.S. government, adopted new baseline global emission standards for ocean-going ships and their fuel. The IMO also provided for more rigorous, heightened protections in designated Emission Control Areas (ECAs). The fuel used to power these ships currently contains about 27,000 parts per million (ppm) of sulfur. In an ECA, the sulfur in fuel will be limited to 10,000 ppm in August 2012 and then to 1,000 ppm in January 2015.

Within an ECA, ships must also achieve an 80 percent reduction in smog-forming oxides of nitrogen starting in 2016.

EPA air quality analyses shows the pollution reductions required in an ECA will reduce exposure to lethal particulate pollution for millions of Americans.

Ocean-going ships contribute to unhealthy air quality across the United States. According to EPA, in 2001, these large ships emitted approximately:
- 745,000 tons of smog-forming oxides of nitrogen, a precursor to ground-level ozone. Ozone can aggravate asthma and decrease lung function in addition to other health effects;
- 450,000 tons of sulfur dioxide, a key contributor to acid rain that can also be transformed into lethal particulate matter; and
- 54,000 tons of fine particulates, microscopic sized particles, which can be breathed deep into the lungs, bypassing the body's defense systems. They are implicated in thousands of premature deaths each year. Other harmful health effects also result from breathing fine particulates.

Ocean-going ships are also responsible for about 3 percent of the world's total greenhouse gas pollution.

American Lung Association is the leading organization working to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease. The American Lung Association is "Fighting for Air" through research, education and advocacy. For more information, visit http://www.lungusa.org/.

Environmental Defense Fund, a leading national nonprofit organization, represents more than 500,000 members. Since 1967, Environmental Defense Fund has linked science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships to create breakthrough solutions to the most serious environmental problems. For more information, visit http://www.edf.org/.

National Association of Clean Air Agencies comprises the air pollution control agencies in 53 states and territories and over 165 metropolitan areas across the country. NACAA's members have primary responsibility for ensuring that everyone in our nation breathes clean, healthful air. For more information, visit http://www.4cleanair.org/.

Puget Sound Clean Air Agency is the regional air quality agency for the area including the major container ports of Seattle and Tacoma, Washington. We work together the clean the air we breathe and protect our climate through education, incentives and enforcement. For more information, visit http://www.pscleanair.org/.

Air Pollution Contributes to Allergies

New study supports efforts to protect children from air pollution

At its monthly regulatory hearing, the California Air Resources Board reviewed the results of a national study that linked exacerbation of childhood allergies to increased air pollution.

A survey of more than 70,000 children, aged three to 17, revealed that exposure to greater amounts of ozone or particulate matter triggers more symptoms of hay fever and respiratory allergies.

"Children are growing and learning constantly and the added burden of allergies can only limit them from reaching their full potential," said ARB board member Barbara Riordan. "This study underlines the need to clean our air. Our future is dependent on protecting children’s developing minds and spirits."

The study results, published in the January 2009 issue of Environmental Health Perspectives, found that for even small increases in the ambient amount of ozone or particulate matter, the population of children could expect a significant increase in the likelihood of hay fever and respiratory allergy symptoms. In California, the ARB estimates that one million school absences annually are associated with ozone exposures alone.

Created when the soup of pollutants are heated in the sun, ozone has long been the focus of air pollution regulations. It is the main constituent of smog and a serious threat to those with cardiopulmonary disease. Ozone inflames nasal passages and lung tissue. Recently it has also been associated with diminished lung development in children and the exacerbation of asthma.

The other respiratory antagonist found in the study was particulate matter, an assortment of very small liquid and solid particles floating in the air. When inhaled these particles easily penetrate deeply into lungs increasing the number and severity of asthma attacks, aggravating bronchitis and other lung diseases, and reducing a body's ability to fight infections.

The study’s findings support the state’s effort to further reduce pollution through local and state level regulations. Over the last two decades ozone concentrations throughout the state have been halved.

"We have grown accustomed to allergies and operate on the assumption that the only relief is medication for symptoms," continued Riordan. "But, reducing ozone and particulate matter also helps. Children can use more energy on their school work and less on struggling with runny nose and itchy eyes."

The Air Resources Board is a department of the California Environmental Protection Agency. ARB’s mission is to promote and protect public health, welfare, and ecological resources through effective reduction of air pollutants while recognizing and considering effects on the economy. The ARB oversees all air pollution control efforts in California to attain and maintain health based air quality standards.

Inhaling A Heart Attack: How Air Pollution Can Cause Heart Disease

BETHESDA, Md. (March 18, 2009) We are used to thinking of heart disease as a product of genetic factors or lifestyle choices, such as what we eat and how much we exercise. There is another road to heart disease: breathing.

Accumulating evidence indicates that an increase in particulate air pollution is associated with an increase in heart attacks and deaths. Research has begun in the relatively new field of environmental cardiology -- a field that examines the relationship between air pollution and heart disease.

Aruni Bhatnagar of the University of Louisville and Robert Brook of the University of Michigan have organized a symposium Environmental Factors in Heart Disease, to take place April 21 at the Experimental Biology conference in New Orleans. The American Physiological Society is one of the sponsors of the annual conference. Dr. Bhatnagar will speak on Environmental aldehydes exposure and cardiovascular disease, while Dr. Brook will give a talk on Environmental pollution and hypertension. In addition, Araujo Jesus of UCLA will speak on Exacerbation of experimental atherogenesis by ultrafine air pollution, and Murray Mittleman of the Harvard School of Public Health will speak on Air pollution and stroke.

There have been a number of studies connecting pollution with heart disease:
- A study of six U.S. cities found that people died earlier when they lived in cities with higher pollution levels. A majority of these deaths were due to heart disease.
- A study of 250 metropolitan areas around the world found a spike in air pollution is followed by a spike in heart attacks.
- A study in Salt Lake City found that when a nearby steel mill shut down for a period of months, there was a 4-6% drop in mortality. The mortality rose to previous levels when the steel mill reopened.

The people who seem to be most susceptible to environmental pollutants are the people who are already vulnerable, including the elderly and people with coronary artery disease. There is also some evidence that diabetics, women and people who are obese may be at greater risk.

Identifying harmful pollutants
Researchers are trying to find out which pollutants are harmful and how the harmful pollutants work to damage the cardiovascular system. They have focused on smaller, microscopic particles that can get into the lungs and may gain entrance to the blood stream. (The upper airway filters out larger particles that are in smog and other air pollutants before they can cause a problem.)

In addition, researchers have focused on air pollutants, including:
- ozone
- nitrates
- sulfates
- metals
- aldehydes

One intriguing statistic is that the risk of heart attack increases in parallel with time spent in traffic the previous day. In animal experiments, Dr. Bhatnagar has found that aldehydes -- a toxic class of chemicals found in most forms of smoke, including cigarette smoke and car exhaust -- increase blood cholesterol levels and activate enzymes that cause plaque in the blood vessels to rupture. When plaque ruptures, it can cause a blood clot, which may block an artery and lead to a heart attack.

Much of Robert Brook’s research has centered on the relationship between air pollution and hypertension. Fine- and ultra-fine particles that get into the lung may make their way into the blood vessels. Within 15 minutes of inhaling pollutants, there is a very rapid increase in blood pressure, he said.

Blood vessels react to the pollutants by producing an inflammatory response to attack the foreign matter. However, the inflammatory response itself can set off a complex physiological reaction that is harmful to the blood vessels, Dr. Brook said.

Lessons learned
If you live in an area where pollution levels may be high, you can take steps to reduce the risk of air pollution, Dr. Brook said. During times when air quality is unhealthy, exercise indoors, because indoor air is filtered. If you exercise outdoors, particularly if you’re at risk for heart disease, do it when pollutants are at lower levels. Avoid peak traffic times.

The work in environmental cardiology goes on and these researchers, and others, will gather together at Experimental Biology to share their ideas and research findings and plan the next steps in fighting environmental heart disease.

A fuller audio interview is available in Episode 17 of the APS podcast, Life Lines, at: Click here.

You can also find out more about the symposium at: Click here.

UN Climate Organization Warns Link Between Pollution, Weather, Climate Impact Health

GENEVA (RPRN)23 March 2009- The United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization says there is a close relationship between weather-climate systems and global pollution. The organization says these relationships also affect people’s health.

The World Meteorological Organization says 90 percent of all natural disasters are related to weather, water and climate events. It says air quality is an important factor as well.

The World Health Organization estimates about two million people die prematurely every year due to air pollution, more than half in developing countries. WHO says declining air quality worsens illnesses and deaths from asthma, heart disease, and lung cancer.

The relationship between climate, weather, air quality and health is the theme of this year’s World Meteorological Day, which is observed Monday.WMO Secretary-General, Michel Jarraud, says the scientific community is becoming increasingly aware of the inter-connection.

“For the air quality, what we are talking about is not only the sort of traditional pollutants as you could imagine them,” he noted. “But, it is also many of the gases, which are the greenhouse gases that are also influencing the quality of the air when they are abundant in the lower atmosphere.”

WMO scientists assess and monitor air pollutants such as ground-level ozone, smog, particulate matter, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide. Most of these substances directly result from the industrial, urban and vehicular combustion of fossil fuels.

Jarraud says an analysis of this data enables scientists to better forecast the distribution of potentially harmful pollutants in the atmosphere. He says it is increasingly important to do this analysis in connection with urbanization because more than half of the world population lives in urban areas.

“The pollution issues are even more acute in the big urban areas,” he said. “Something else, which we hope does not happen very often, but which happens from time to time are the accidents which can release huge amounts of chemicals or radioactive-during Chernobyl, the radioactive things. We also provide forecasts in order to predict where these things will go, which are the areas which are the most likely affected.”

WMO says a warming climate can exacerbate air pollution. For example, it says climate change and land use are expected to increase desertification worldwide, increasing the risk of sand and dust storms.

It says climate change models show particle-producing fires will continue to increase in both frequency and intensity with rising global temperatures. Drought also is likely to increase, leading to more fires.

About the author: Voice of America. The Voice of America, which first went on the air in 1942, is a multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. Government through the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

Blue Sky Research Reveals Increase in Global Air Pollution

A University of Maryland-led team has compiled the first decades-long database of aerosol measurements over land, making possible new research into how air pollution affects climate change.

Using this new database, the researchers show that clear sky visibility over land has decreased globally over the past 30 years, indicative of increases in aerosols, or airborne pollution. Their findings are published in the March 13 issue of Science.

“Creation of this database is a big step forward for researching long-term changes in air pollution and correlating these with climate change,” said Kaicun Wang, assistant research scientist in the University of Maryland’s department of geography and lead author of the paper. “And it is the first time we have gotten global long-term aerosol information over land to go with information already available on aerosol measurements over the world’s oceans.”

Wang, together with Shunlin Liang, a University of Maryland professor of geography, and Robert Dickinson, a professor of geological science at the University of Texas, Austin, created a database that includes visibility measurements taken from 1973 – 2007 at 3,250 meteorological stations all over the world and released by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). Visibility was the distance a meteorological observer could see clearly from the measurement source. The more aerosols present in the air, the shorter the visibility distance.

According to the researchers, the visibility data were compared to available satellite data (2000-2007), and found to be comparable as an indicator of aerosol concentration in the air. Thus, they conclude, the visibility data provide a valid source from which scientists can study correlations between air pollution and climate change.

Aerosols, Greenhouse Gases and Climate Change
Aerosols are solid particles or liquid droplets suspended in air. They include soot, dust and sulfur dioxide particles, and are what we commonly think of when we talk about air pollution. Aerosols come, for example, from the combustion of fossil fuels, industrial processes, and biomass burning of tropical rainforests. They can be hazardous to both human health and the environment.

Aerosol particles affect the Earth’s surface temperature by either reflecting light back into space, thus reducing solar radiation at Earth’s surface, or absorbing solar radiation, thus heating the atmosphere. The variable cooling and heating effects of aerosols also modify properties of cloud cover and rainfall.

Unlike aerosol particles, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are transparent and have no effect on visibility. Sunlight passes right through them, just as it does through the oxygen and nitrogen that are the main constituents of our atmosphere. Though present in the atmosphere in relatively small amounts, greenhouse gases cause global warming because these “trace” gases trap solar energy absorbed at the earth's surface and prevent it from being radiated as heat back into space.

While the climate warming impacts of increased greenhouse gases are clear, the effects of increased aerosols are not. Studies of the long-term effects of aerosols on climate change have been largely inconclusive up to now due to limited over-land aerosol measurements, according to Wang and his team. However, with this database researchers now can compare temperature, rainfall and cloud cover data from the past 35 years with the aerosol measurements in the new database.

Global Dimming
According to the authors, a preliminary analysis of the database measurements shows a steady increase in aerosols over the period from 1973 to 2007. Increased aerosols in the atmosphere block solar radiation from the earth’s surface, and have thus caused a net “global dimming.” The only region that does not show an increase in aerosols is Europe, which has actually experienced a “global brightening,” the authors say.

The largest known source of increased aerosols is increased burning of fossil fuels. And a major product of fossil fuel combustion is sulfur dioxide. Thus, the team notes, that their finding of a steady increase in aerosols in recent decades, also suggests an increase in sulfate aerosols. This differs from studies recently cited by the Intergovernmental Panel Climate Change showing global emissions of sulfate aerosol decreased between 1980 and 2000.

Climate Change Research at Maryland
Visit the University of Maryland's Climate Change Microsite to find the latest climate news from around the world; information on the university's climate change research and partnerships with NOAA, NASA & DOE; and links to leading U.S. and international sources of climate information. http://www.newsdesk.umd.edu/micro/index.cfm

Jackson Announces EPA Schools Monitoring Initiative

Administrator Jackson: ‘Our job is to protect the American public where they live, work and play – and that certainly includes protecting schoolchildren where they learn.’


Lisa Jackson, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, announced today a new initiative to further measure levels of toxic air pollution near many schools across the country for better protection. EPA and its state partners will prioritize and monitor schools for more extensive air quality analysis, looking closely at schools located near large industries and in urban areas.

“I’m a mother first, and like all parents, I want to be sure my children are breathing healthy air at school,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “Questions have been raised about air quality around some U.S. schools, and those questions merit investigation. EPA will work quickly to make assessments and take swift action where necessary. Our job is to protect the American public where they live, work and play – and that certainly includes protecting schoolchildren where they learn.”

Administrator Jackson has outlined an aggressive timeline for prioritizing and monitoring schools to determine any which are exposed to high levels of toxic air pollution. EPA anticipates monitoring at some schools will begin within the next 30 days. Directed by EPA, the monitoring will be conducted primarily by state and local governments. Some states have already begun monitoring.

Recent media reports have raised critical questions about air quality outside schools near large industrial facilities. At Administrator Jackson’s confirmation hearings, she was asked about this issue by Congress and pledged to take swift action to investigate and remediate if necessary any potential high-risk exposure for our nation’s school children.

EPA will work with states, tribes, and local communities to ensure that monitors are deployed quickly to get high-quality data and to share results with American families. This partnership will help EPA maximize its monitoring and analytical capabilities to develop a clearer picture of any potential risks to children from toxic air pollution. This action is particularly critical in some low-income areas, which are sometimes disproportionately impacted by environmental degradation.

From 1990 to 2005, emissions of air toxics in the United States declined 41 percent. Levels of air toxics, however, can vary widely from place to place depending upon a number of factors including the amount and types of industry nearby, proximity to heavily traveled or congested roadways, and weather patterns.

More information: http://www.epa.gov/air/toxicair/newtoxics.html

EPA Proposes to Reduce Air Toxics from Stationary Diesel and Gas-Fired Engines

(Washington, D.C. – Feb. 27, 2009) For the first time, EPA is proposing to set emission limits for formaldehyde, benzene, acrolein and other air toxics from certain stationary diesel and gas-fired engines. In 2008, over 1 million of these engines generated electricity, powered equipment and operated during emergencies at industrial, agricultural and other facilities. The proposed limits would apply to engines located at smaller sources of air toxics.

For major sources of air toxics, this rule would only apply to engines that are:

· Smaller than or equal to 500 horsepower that were constructed or reconstructed before June 12, 2006, or
· Larger than or equal to 500 horsepower that were constructed or reconstructed before December 19, 2002.

To meet the proposed emissions requirements, owners and operators of these engines would need to install “after treatment” controls, such as filters or catalysts, to engine exhaust systems.

EPA estimates that this rule would reduce air toxics emissions by 13,000 tons per year, particle pollution by 2,600 tons and carbon monoxide emissions by 510,000 tons, when fully implemented in 2013.

The public comment period will be open for 60 days upon publication in the Federal Register.

More information: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg/t3fs.html .

American Lung Association Victory in Lawsuit Against EPA Gives New Opportunity to Protect Public Health From Deadly Air Pollutant

WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, the American Lung Association won a critical victory in our fight for healthy air in the United States. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia told the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that they must review and reconsider their 2006 decision on the national ambient air quality standards for particulate matter. The Lung Association in partnership with its environmental colleagues and states had challenged EPA's decision, because the science clearly shows that the standards set in 2006 failed to adequately protect public health.

"This victory is especially important, because the public health threat posed by particulate matter air pollution is so grave," said Janice Nolen, American Lung Association Assistant Vice President, National Policy and Advocacy. "We encourage EPA to follow the clear scientific evidence and adopt standards that will protect the millions living in areas plagued with unhealthy levels of air pollution as the Clean Air Act requires."

Particulate matter can kill and is one of the most dangerous and widespread forms of air pollution. It is responsible for shortening the lives of tens of thousands American every year. Particle pollution can increase the risk of heart disease, lung cancer and asthma attacks.

Millions of people are particularly sensitive to particle pollution and face greater health risks from breathing particulate matter, including infants, children, teen, seniors, people with lung diseases like asthma, people with cardiovascular diseases and diabetics. Even healthy adults who exercise or work outdoors in areas affected by high levels of particle pollution are at increased risk.

"Strong, protective national air quality standards are fundamental for healthy air," said Stephen J. Nolan, American Lung Association National Board Chair.

The Clean Air Act requires that EPA set standards at levels that protect public health based on the current science. These standards define the official limits of air pollution that are safe for people to breathe and determine the goals for every state to clean up emissions.

"Today's triumph will save countless lives and is an important step forward in the American Lung Association's continued work to fight for air," added Mr. Nolan.

About the American Lung Association: Now in its second century, the American Lung Association is the leading organization working to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease. With your generous support, the American Lung Association is "Fighting for Air" through research, education and advocacy. For more information about the American Lung Association, a Charity Navigator Four Star Charity and holder of the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Guide Seal, or to support the work it does, call 1-800-LUNG-USA (1-800-586-4872) or visit http://www.trafficresults.com/click-rabbit.php?acctid=S/dBowBcHVU=&docid=DC7491624022009-1&redirect=1&url=http://www.lungusa.org/.

Air Pollution Too High Near Some US Schools

Air pollution is dangerously high around schools near some U.S. industrial plants, according to a recent study involving researchers from the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University.

The study, conducted by USA Today reporters, examined air pollution levels near schools around the U.S. over an eight month period. They used a computer model from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that tracks the paths of industrial air pollution around the United States to predict the areas of highest air pollution. The USA Today reporters then partnered with university researchers, including Amir Sapkota of the University of Maryland School of Public Health, to monitor the air quality around schools in areas predicted to have both low and high levels of pollution. The findings were published on the front page of USA Today on December 10, 2008.

The researchers found high levels of toxins, including volatile organic compounds (VOC) and fine particulate matter, in the air near schools in the path of industrial pollution. Most of the affected schools were located on the East Coast and in the Midwest with the largest numbers in states like Illinois, New York, Louisiana and West Virginia . In many cases, toxin levels were much higher than those considered safe by the Environmental Protection Agency. In some cases, the pollution was high enough to cause concern for long term adverse health effects.

"The study brings the air pollution problem to the forefront and shows that we need to pay more attention," said Sapkota. "By making people aware of the problem so that they can take action, this study serves an important purpose."

Sapkota helped measure and identify the VOCs collected from around the designated monitoring sites. VOCs are organic compounds that react to produce ozone (photochemical smog) and fine particulate matter or haze. They are found in emissions from burning oil and gasoline, as well as in cleaners, paints and tobacco smoke. They can cause both short- and long-term health effects.

Another researcher, Patrick Breysse of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, analyzed the metallic compounds collected from the air.

The Smallest Victims
The study focused on schools because children are required by law to be there for long periods of time. This prolongs their exposure to any chemicals that might pollute the surrounding air. Children are most susceptible to these compounds because their bodies are small and in the process of developing.

"Exposure to a certain amount of toxin in a child is not the same as the exposure of an adult to the same amount of toxin," Sapkota said. "Because the child weighs less, he or she is exposed to more toxin per unit of body weight than an adult." Sapkota believes the next step is for the schools that are in these toxic hotspots to do more monitoring, especially of their indoor air quality, to assess the extent of the problem.

"The monitoring in this study was conducted outdoors," said Sapkota. "That doesn't necessarily mean that the toxin concentration is the same indoors, where people spend most of their time."

According to the EPA, the concentration of VOCs indoors can be up to ten times higher than concentrations outside. Air filters cannot remove gaseous VOCs from the air.

Sapkota also emphasized that everyday pollutants do not just come from industry. "VOCs also come from cleaning solvents, furniture, stored gasoline, and car exhaust, all of which can be found in or near our houses" he said.

He says individuals can help reduce VOC exposure by taking certain actions, such as choosing cleaning products with low VOC s, and taking public transportation rather than driving individual cars.

"The primary reason for taking action is that air pollution affects our health," Sapkota said. "We want to prevent people from getting sick and to do that we must remove or minimize exposure to air pollution."

Air Pollution Research at the University of Maryland
Researchers in the University of Maryland are studying air pollution and the health and climate problems associated with it regionally and internationally.

In the School of Public Health , Sapkota is focusing his research on air pollution. He and his colleagues want to study the air pollutants people encounter on a day-to-day basis, and examining the affects on human health. His lab is currently analyzing air pollution and health records to study air pollution that can make asthma worse. He also plans to extend air pollution monitoring to individuals by using personal monitors that follow people throughout their day. Another upcoming project will be a lung cancer study in Nepal .

"One of the goals of the University of Maryland's new School of Public Health is to serve the needs of people in Maryland, the region, the country, and the world," Sapkota said. "As we continue to grow, we will make a big impact on this field and be a significant force behind it."

Researchers in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science led by Professor Russell Dickerson, research air quality in the mid-Atlantic region, across the United States, and internationally in China and India and the Indian Ocean. They work with the Maryland Department of the Environment and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and federal agencies including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NASA and EPA to conduct research relevant to state and national policy formulation and decision making. As part of this teams work with Chinese government on air quality, University of Maryland students helped monitor air pollution before and during the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing . Plans are underway to establish a joint research center in China to help further air pollution research there.

Dickerson's research team, composed of chemists and meteorologists, develops analytical instruments for gases and particles (carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and other pollutants, aerosols, etc.) that affect air quality and/or climate. Using these instruments in the laboratory, field, and on ships and aircraft, they measure and interpret the results in terms of photochemistry and atmospheric physics. Regionally, they measure air quality and study air pollution in the Baltimore-Washington area and the role of the atmosphere in the chemistry of the Chesapeake Bay. Their work provides the basis for the Washington Metropolitan Council of Governments daily reports and forecasts of regional air quality.

Dickerson and department of atmospheric and oceanic science colleague Robert Hudson, were honored in 2008 by the University System of Maryland for their more than 10 years work developing and maintaining air quality research, and monitoring and forecasting studies for the State of Maryland. The two professors, along with their students, developed the Regional Atmospheric Measurements, Modeling and Prediction Program used by state agencies to improve air quality in Maryland.

"While the air quality in Maryland has improved substantially over the past few decades, thanks in part to the Maryland Department of the Environment and the Environmental Protection Agency, areas like Baltimore and College Park are often in violation of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards,said Dickerson.

Another University of Maryland leader in regional air pollution research is Professor, John Ondov in the department of chemistry and biochemistry. Ondov studies sources and atmospheric behavior of urban fine particulate matter. He and his team use measurements of air pollutants, wind angle and velocity to identify types of pollution in the air and pinpoint their origins. In 2005 a multi-university team led by Ondov completed a four year Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Supersite Project in Baltimore. In the near future, they hope to develop new, advanced sensor systems and computational methods for detecting radioactive materials released by nuclear devices. If a nuclear event were to occur, such systems could help identify what a device was made of, where the radioactive materials came from and the location of the detonation.

BYU-HSPH Study Shows That Americans Owe Five Months Of Their Lives To Cleaner Air

A new study by researchers at Brigham Young University and Harvard School of Public Health shows that average life expectancy in 51 U.S. cities increased nearly three years over recent decades, and approximately five months of that increase came thanks to cleaner air.

"Such a significant increase in life expectancy attributable to reducing air pollution is remarkable," said C. Arden Pope III, a BYU epidemiologist and lead author on the study in the Jan. 22 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. "We find that we're getting a substantial return on our investments in improving our air quality. Not only are we getting cleaner air that improves our environment, but it is improving our public health."

The study is available on the NEJM website: http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/360/4/376

The research matched two sets of data from 51 cities across the nation: changes in air pollution between about 1980 and about 2000; and residents' life expectancies during those years. The scientists applied advanced statistical models to account for other factors that could affect average life spans, such as changes in population, income, education, migration, demographics and cigarette smoking.

In cities that had previously been the most polluted and cleaned up the most, the cleaner air added approximately 10 months to the average resident's life. On average, Americans were living 2.72 years longer at the end of the two-decade study period; up to five months, or 15 percent, of that increase came because of reduced air pollution. Other studies show that these gains are likely coming from reductions in the cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary disease that typically accompany air pollution.

"There is an important positive message here that the efforts to reduce particulate air pollution concentrations in the United States over the past 20 years have led to substantial and measurable improvements in life expectancy," said study co-author Douglas Dockery, chair of the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard School of Public Health.

Pope and Dockery have teamed with other researchers on landmark studies published in the early 1990s that revealed the negative health effects of particulate air pollution known as "PM2.5" - tiny pollutants smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter, smaller than 4/100 the width of a human hair. The Environmental Protection Agency used those and related studies as the basis for tightening air pollution standards in 1997.

The latest study evaluated the impact of resulting decreases in particulate pollution on average life spans in cities for which air pollution data were available. In fact, researchers had to build life expectancy data for the 214 counties that are part of the study's 51 metropolitan areas.

"Life expectancy is the single most comprehensive summary of how people's longevity is affected by factors like air pollution that cause early death," said co-author Majid Ezzati, associate professor of international health at Harvard School of Public Health. "We were able to use routine mortality statistics to track longevity in all cities over a long period of time and analyze how it has been influenced by changes in air pollution."

The analysis found that for every decrease of 10 micrograms per cubic meter of particulate pollution in a city, its residents' average life expectancy increased by more than seven months. During the 1980s and 1990s the average PM2.5 levels in the 51 U.S. cities studied dropped from 21 to 14 micrograms per cubic meter. In cities such as Pittsburgh and Buffalo, the decrease was closer to 14 micrograms per cubic meter.

The research also observed gains in life expectancy even in cities that initially had relatively clean air but had further improvements in air quality, suggesting the continuing benefits to ongoing efforts to reduce air pollution.

The researchers emphasized that there are other important and often overlapping factors that influence life expectancy, but this study demonstrated that improvements in air quality can contribute to significant and measurable improvements in life expectancy.

The study was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Association of Schools of Public Health, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and the Mary Lou Fulton Professorship at BYU.

New Stationary Engine Rules in Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) Eight-Hour Ozone Nonattainment Area

Do you operate a stationary internal combustion engine in Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, or Tarrant County? If so, your facility is in the Dallas-Fort Worth Eight-Hour Ozone Nonattainment Area and may be subject to Title 30, Texas Administrative Code, Chapter 117, Sections 117.2100 through 117.2145. The rule is not industry specific and applies to any stationary internal combustion engine located at a minor source of nitrogen oxides (NOx), including back-up generators. A stationary engine is one that remains at a location for more than 12 consecutive months. The rule requires certain emission specifications, recordkeeping, monitoring, testing, and reporting to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Rich burn gas-fired, diesel-fired, and dual-fueled engines must be in compliance by March 1, 2009. Lean burn gas-fired engines must be in compliance by March 1, 2010. For more information please visit our website http://www.sblga.info/ and click “Assistance Tools for Minor Sources of Nitrogen Oxides.”

EPA Awards $274,914 Grant to Philadelphia Clean Air Council

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded a $274, 914 Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) grant to the Philadelphia Clean Air Council’s Southeast Philadelphia Port Communities project.

The CARE program is a competitive grant program that offers communities an innovative way to address the risks from multiple sources of toxic pollution in their environment. Through CARE, communities create partnerships with residents, businesses, schools, local governments and nongovernment organizations to come up with solutions geared to reduce toxic pollutants. In addition to providing funding, EPA also provides technical assistance and resources.

The Clean Air Council received a previous CARE grant in 2005. The new grant will continue the work on the Port Environmental Task Force. A significant portion of the work plan will include measurable toxic reductions at Packer Terminal and the nearby community in southeast Philadelphia.

The Clean Air Council, in partnership with southeast Philadelphia community leaders and port operators, has identified idling vehicles as a major concern.

Southeast Philadelphia, rich in racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity, is a densely populated, congested urban area with significant educational, economic, and quality of life challenges. The Clean Air Council takes a comprehensive approach to improving air quality, working to strengthen the community’s ability to identify toxic threats and facilitating the creation of collaborative, common sense strategies for addressing these threats.

In 2008, EPA made $2.5 million available to 18 communities through the CARE program. Applications for the 2009 CARE grants are due March 16.

CARE Program: www.epa.gov/care

U.S. EPA Launches New Southern California Website

Air and water quality, waste recycling, local site cleanups at your fingertips

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency launches a new Web site that will provide up-to-date environmental information to residents of southern California.

By visiting: http://www.epa.gov/region09/socal, viewers will have easy access to information about environmental issues in southern California. The site features EPA’s work on port diesel emissions, area water quality, local site cleanups, waste recycling, border activities, and tribal projects in Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Santa Barbara counties.

The new site uses interactive maps of southern California to provide local residents with critical environmental information about their own communities and neighborhoods, including current air pollution levels, beach conditions and sun exposure risks.

The site will be useful to teachers and students as an educational tool for researching environmental issues in their communities. It also provides resources for organizations and businesses on how to "green" their operations or join one of EPA's voluntary partnership programs.

EPA Calls for Overdue States to Cut Air Pollution in National Parks

As a result of legal action by three environmental groups, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today determined that more than three dozen states have failed to submit programs required by the Clean Air Act to cut air pollution drifting into national parks and wilderness areas. The determination means that EPA must work with the states to take corrective action or put in place a federal clean air plan.

"Today's action gets the country back on track in restoring clean air to our national parks," said Kevin Lynch, attorney for Environmental Defense Fund based in Colorado. "We look forward to working with EPA's new leadership and the states to clean up the industrial smokestacks that pollute our national parks."

"EPA's action is good news for anyone who enjoys visiting our nation's magnificent national parks," said Earthjustice attorney Jennifer Chavez. "We look forward to working with EPA and the states to achieve clean air and clear vistas in the parks.

"The Clean Air Act required states nationwide to submit plans by December 2007 to clean up the air pollution -- and to remedy existing and prevent future visibility impairment -- in 156 premier national parks and wilderness areas, (http://home.nps.gov/applications/parksearch/geosearch.cfm).

They include: Acadia (Maine), Grand Canyon (Arizona), Great Smoky Mountains (Tennessee and North Carolina), Mount Rainier (Washington state), Rocky Mountain (Colorado), Shenandoah (Virginia), Theodore Roosevelt (New York), Yellowstone (Idaho/Montana/Wyoming), Yosemite (California), and Zion (Utah).

If states fail to meet these obligations, EPA must identify the deficiencies and work with the states to take corrective action or put in place a federal clean air plan. After states missed this legal deadline and EPA failed to take the corrective action required by the Clean Air Act, Earthjustice, Environmental Defense Fund, and the National Parks Conservation Association recently went to court to compel EPA to take corrective action.

37 states have not submitted the clean air plans for national parks and wilderness areas required by the December 2007 legal deadline, although five of those -- Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, New Mexico, and Wyoming -- have submitted a portion of the required cleanup plans. About 13 states submitted clean air blueprints. The latter group includes: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia. EPA must review these plans for adequacy.

Much of the pollution problem in national parks comes from old power plants and factories with inadequate pollution controls. Emissions from these plants can travel hundreds of miles, contributing to regional haze that obscures scenic vistas over large areas. Each state's clean air plan must include rules to limit these emissions, limits that will achieve cleaner, healthier air for our people and our parks.

According to the National Park Service, human-caused air pollution reduces visibility in most national parks throughout the country. Average visual range -- the farthest a person can see on a given day -- in most of the western United States is about one-half to two-thirds of what it would be without man-made air pollution (about 60 to 100 miles). In most of the east, the average visual range is about one-fifth of what it would be under natural conditions (less than 30 miles).

EPA Declaration of Clean Air for the San Joaquin Valley Under Fire

Groups file lawsuit claiming Valley has not met criteria for treatment as “clean”

Public health, community, and conservation groups filed suit in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over the Agency's decision to relieve the notoriously polluted region from further obligations to address dust pollution under the federal Clean Air Act.

At issue is an October 2006 final rule officially removing the San Joaquin Valley's designation as an area that violates federal standards for coarse particulate matter (PM-10). With this decision, EPA waived remaining obligations of the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District to continue its fight against PM-10. According to the California Air Resources Board, particulate matter is the most deadly air pollutant, estimated to kill more than 1200 Valley residents each year.

"The air is still not clean. More than half of Latinos in the San Joaquin Valley report that they suffer from respiratory problems," (1) said Nora Vargas of the Latino Issues Forum. "Latino families suffer disproportional health and economic impacts from air pollution as asthma is the leading cause of absenteeism from school or work due to chronic conditions. Air quality affects everyone, every resident of the Valley deserves clean air." (2)

Even though air quality monitors in the Valley show that the federal standards are not being met, EPA and the local air district claim that these recurring violations are natural and need not be addressed through further controls.

"This is a classic case of trying to sweep the dust under the rug," said Paul Cort of Earthjustice who is representing the coalition against EPA. "The air is not clean and the agencies have not done their job to protect public health. EPA's decision is factually and legally flawed and must be overturned."

"The San Joaquin Valley is a region where industry special interests hold sway," said Kevin Hall of the Fresno Sierra Club. "As we said at the time of the finding, it was either a miracle or they were lying. As more data came in, we became convinced it was the latter."

"EPA regulators had to write new rules with special loopholes just so they could ignore the Valley's PM-10 pollution," said Kevin Hamilton a respiratory therapist and representative of Medical Advocates for Healthy Air. "Listening to the coughing and wheezing of my patients I wonder how their lungs and hearts can get in on the deal. Come on EPA, we're not stupid here."

Strategy of Avoidance
For nearly a decade, community groups have been going to court to make sure the Clean Air Act is fully enforced in the San Joaquin Valley. These citizen's legal actions have successfully ended illegal exemptions (agriculture, oil refineries) and forced new clean air rules (for industrial polluters and wood burning).

One of the cases clean air advocates won was a court order that set a deadline for EPA to adopt missing measures for addressing the PM-10 problem in the Valley. Rather than establish these required measures, EPA instead chose to manipulate data from air monitoring stations to determine the Valley had attained the national PM-10 standards.

The Dangers of Particulate Matter
Sources of particulate matter pollution include almost any activity that generates dust, soot or smoke. EPA has long recognized that exposure to elevated ambient air concentrations of particulate matter less than 10 microns in diameter (referred to as PM-10) can cause impairment of lung function, impacts on respiratory defense mechanisms, aggravation of respiratory and cardiovascular disease, and premature mortality.

EPA adopted national ambient air quality standards for PM-10 in 1987 and directed all areas not meeting these standards to adopt state plans including specific control measures to regulate sources of PM-10.

The San Joaquin Valley in central California continues to be one of the most PM-polluted regions in the country.

EPA Awards $500,000 to Biomedical Institute for Air Quality Research

The Environmental Protection Agency has awarded $500,000 to the Lovelace Biomedical and Environmental Research Institute of Albuquerque, New Mexico, to develop environmental health indicators of cardiovascular disease caused by air pollution. Exposures to particulate matter, ozone, and diesel exhaust have been identified as a possible cause for cardiovascular disease in humans, but no investigation confirms that pollutants act through known markers of atherosclerosis (e.g., C-reactive protein, tumor necrosis factor). The Lovelace Biomedical and Environmental Research Institute will conduct research to develop novel and more specific markers for acute exposure to humans.

“Gaining a better understanding of science, research, and technology is critical to our agency’s mission,” said EPA Regional Administrator Richard E. Greene. “Research conducted by this biomedical institute will provide life-saving data used to improve the quality of life and help protect our environment.”

Project activities involved in this research will include identifying susceptible individuals, classifying casual components of the complex air pollution mixture, and developing a better understanding of the biological mechanisms involved in air pollution-induced cardiovascular toxicity. As a result of data collected from this study, Lovelace hopes to identify individuals who could be at risk of developing atherosclerosis, a chronic arterial inflammatory disease which may lead to a stroke.

Funding for the grant award was provided through the EPA National Center for Environmental Research’s Science to Achieve Results or STAR program. The STAR program funds research grants and graduate fellowships in numerous environmental science and engineering disciplines through a competitive solicitation process and independent peer review.

WildEarth Guardians Calls on EPA to Slash Smog Pollution in the American West, Safeguard Public Health

Clean Air Act Petition Filed to Fix Flawed Clean Air Regulations in 16 Western States, Tackle Interstate Transport of Air Pollution

DENVER—WildEarth Guardians today petitioned the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to take aggressive action to safeguard public health and the environment and cut ozone air pollution throughout the American West.

“The American West is facing an unprecedented challenge in addressing the impacts of ozone air pollution,” said Jeremy Nichols, Climate and Energy Program Director for WildEarth Guardians. “For the sake of public health, we’re calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to help us meet this challenge head on.”

Ozone air pollution—the key ingredient of smog—is a poisonous gas that forms when sunlight reacts with pollution from tailpipes, smokestacks, and industrial operations, such as oil and gas drilling. It can scar the lungs of children, trigger asthma attacks, and cause premature death. Federal standards limit ozone concentrations in the air to no more than 0.075 parts per million over an eight-hour period, a very small concentration, reflecting the danger of this pollutant.

The petition comes as mounting evidence shows the American West will be blanketed in smog by 2018. Already, many areas suffering from harmful levels of ozone air pollution. Denver, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and other cities have violated federal clean air standards limiting ozone. However the problem is spreading, even affecting rural communities.

Air quality in northwestern New Mexico and western Wyoming violated ozone limits this year, while hazardous ozone days were reported from remote areas like southern Utah’s Zion National Park and Nevada’s Great Basin National Park.

Recent modeling projects further clean air declines in the American West. By 2018, all or portions of 16 Western States are expected to exceed ozone air pollution limits. The modeling, prepared for the Western Regional Air Partnership, which is associated with the Western Governors’ Association, projects ozone levels will be highest over much of the Southwestern United States and Southern Idaho.

The modeling also shows that ozone is a regional problem in the American West due to interstate transport of pollution. A draft white paper prepared for the Western Regional Air Partnership stated, “[C]ontrary to assessments of the impacts of the new ozone standards based on EPA’s model predictions, WRAP’s modeling efforts highlight the regional nature of the ozone air quality problem throughout the Western US.” The white paper continued, “Within the WRAP region, the ozone air quality problem is clearly a regional issue, as evidenced by regional [ozone] modeling results[.]”

Transport of ozone air pollution is a widely known problem the Eastern United States, but has largely been overlooked in the American West. Mounting evidence shows that slashing smog will require regional solutions that address transport among the Western States.

“With air quality projected to worsen throughout the West, we need regional solutions, not piecemeal plans or fingerpointing,” said Nichols. “The Environmental Protection Agency can provide the leadership and direction needed to put the West on the path toward clean air.”

WildEarth Guardians’ petition today is an urgent call on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to take an aggressive, comprehensive, and expeditious approach to tackling ozone air pollution in the American West, as required by the Clean Air Act. The petition calls on the agency to:

• Force 16 Western States to revise their air quality regulations to strengthen ozone air pollution safeguards by 2013. Modeling shows that air quality regulations in the West are failing or will soon exceed limits on ozone air pollution.

• Designate a Western States Interstate Transport Region within 18 months. The designation of an Interstate Transport Region will prioritize the development of regional solutions to tackle ozone air pollution.

• Create a Western States Ozone Interstate Transport Commission. Interstate Transport Commissions are charged with assessing the degree of transport, assessing strategies for combating interstate transport, and recommending strategies for adoption by the EPA.

The petition will also help to focus attention on identifying the key sources of ozone forming pollution and on cutting emissions from sources that contribute most significantly to the regional problem. It is likely that coal-fired power plants, oil and gas drilling operations, cars and trucks, and other industrial sources will be targeted for emission cuts.

“Ultimately, this is about clean energy and smart growth,” said Nichols. “We need to chart a sustainable path forward for the West, that means shifting away from fossil fuels and unchecked growth, and shifting toward renewable energy, efficiency, and smarter planning.”

The petition ultimately requests the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to follow through with basic legal obligations under the Clean Air Act, the nation’s fundamental law protecting public health and welfare from air pollution.

WildEarth Guardians is a nonprofit dedicated to protecting and restoring the American West and is based in Santa Fe, New Mexico with offices in Denver, Phoenix, Bozeman, and Oakland, CA.

See Petition
WildEarth Guardians

EPA Soot List

100 million people living in 46 metropolitan areas are breathing air containing unsafe levels of soot and are in violation of EPA’s fine-particle pollution limits.

On December 22nd, the EPA notified 25 governors and 23 tribal leaders that 211 counties in 25 states did not meet federal pollution standards. 15 new cities and 54 additional counties have been added to the updated “Soot List”.

The EPA reviewed recommendations from states and tribes along with public comments before making its decision to designate counties and parts of counties as not meeting EPA’s PM 2.5 standards. These areas, known as nonattainment areas, include counties with monitors violating the standards and nearby areas that contribute to that violation. Affected states and tribes will be required to take steps to reduce the pollution that forms fine particles. The vast majority of U.S. counties and tribal lands currently meet standards, but will need to continue working to maintain clean air.

New cities include on this year’s list are:
Fairbanks and Juneau, Alaska
Nogales, Arizona
Pinehurst, Idaho
Davenport and Muscatine, Iowa
Klamath and Oakridge, Oregon
Provo and Salt Lake City, Utah
Seattle, Washington
Green Bay, Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Logan, Utah

Many states west of the Rockies have nonattainment regions that exceed federal air pollution levels. They include counties in Utah, Montana, Arizona, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, California and Alaska.

In California, all or part of 30 counties have been put on notice to clean up their air. The Bay Area has exceeded acceptable levels of particulate matter five times in the past 2 months and received 32 warning letters.

In Southwestern Pennsylvania, 10 areas are not compliant, including the city of Pittsburgh.

Chicago along with 6 Illinois counties are included on the Soot List.

In 2006, EPA strengthened the 24-hour fine particle standards from 65 micrograms per cubic meter to 35 micrograms per cubic meter of air to protect public health. Nationwide, monitored levels of fine particle pollution fell 11 percent from 2000 to 2007. Fine particles can either be emitted directly, or they can form in the atmosphere from reactions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Exposure to fine particle pollution can cause a number of serious health problems including aggravated asthma, increased hospital admissions and emergency room visits for respiratory and cardiovascular disease, heart attacks and premature death.

According to the EPA, nonattainment areas must develop a plan to clean the air by 2012 and have that plan in place by 2014.

See the Source:

EPA Soot List – Area Designations for 2006 24-Hour Fine Particle (PM2.5) Standards
State Designations by Region

Find out about:

Diesel Particulate Filters to reduce particulate matter from diesel engines

ARB Adopts Landmark Rules to Clean Up Pollution from Trucks

The Air Resources Board today adopted two critical regulations directly aimed at cleaning up harmful emissions from the estimated one million heavy-duty diesel trucks that operate in California. Beginning January 1, 2011, the Statewide Truck and Bus rule will require truck owners to install diesel exhaust filters on their rigs, with nearly all vehicles upgraded by 2014.

Owners must also replace engines older than the 2010 model year according to a staggered implementation schedule that extends from 2012 to 2022.

Also adopted today, the Heavy Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction measure requires long-haul truckers to install fuel efficient tires and aerodynamic devices on their trailers that lower greenhouse gas emissions and improve fuel economy.

"Today's vote marks a milestone in the history of California's air quality," said ARB Chairman Mary Nichols. "The Board's actions will not only help protect the health of 38 million Californians, they will also ensure that California continues strongly on its path to achieving clean air. And in light of today's extremely challenging financial climate, I am also pleased to say that the Governor, legislature and voters have made available more than one billion dollars in grants and loan programs to help truckers and business owners comply with this vital public health measure.

"Heavy-duty big rigs are the largest remaining source of unregulated diesel emissions, responsible for 32 percent of the smog-forming emissions and nearly 40 percent of the cancer-causing emissions from diesel mobile sources (other diesel emitters include trains, off-road vehicles and marine engines).

The greenhouse gas reduction measure applies to more than 500,000 trailers, while the diesel regulation applies to about 400,000 heavy duty vehicles that are registered in the state, and about 500,000 out-of-state vehicles that do business in California.

However, because many heavy duty vehicles are replaced or retired due to normal business practices on a faster schedule than what the new regulation will require, the number of vehicles expected to be retrofit by 2014 under the rule is about 230,000, while up to 350,000 vehicles would be replaced earlier than normal over the next 15 years.

To help truck owners upgrade their vehicles, the state is offering more than a billion dollars in funding opportunities.

Options include Carl Moyer grants, which are designated for early or surplus compliance with diesel regulations; Proposition 1B funds, for air quality improvements related to goods movement; and AB 118, which establishes a low-cost truck loan program to help pay for early compliance with the truck rule. In addition, ARB is evaluating ways to integrate these programs so that truckers can get a grant and a loan at the same time, minimizing paperwork and significantly reducing the monthly payments for a new truck loan.

To provide flexibility, the diesel regulation is structured so that owners can choose from among three compliance options to meet regulation requirements. There are exceptions to the regulation, including low-use vehicles, emergency and military vehicles, and personal use motor homes. School buses would be subject only to requirements for reducing diesel particulate matter and not for engine replacement.

California has the nation's most polluted air. Because of new engine standards established in 2001, diesel engines operating in California have been getting cleaner, but they are not getting clean fast enough to meet air quality goals. With the new State Bus and Truck rule in place, by 2014, diesel emissions will be 68 percent lower than they would be without the regulation, while emissions of the smog-forming pollutant NOx (oxides of nitrogen) will be 25 percent lower.

Diesel emissions are associated with cancer and exacerbate cardiovascular and respiratory ailments, as do smog-forming emissions. The truck regulation is expected to save 9,400 lives between 2011 and 2025, and greatly reduce health care costs.

These benefits have an estimated value of $48 billion to $69 billion. The cost of installing the trailer greenhouse-gas-reducing technologies will be quickly recouped through lower fuel use.ARB staff held dozens of workshops and met with hundreds of business owners and other stakeholders over the last 20 months.

Without the diesel regulation, California will not be able to meet U.S. EPA-mandated air quality standards and deadlines, and could subsequently lose billions of dollars in federal highway funding.To reduce diesel emissions and improve air quality and public health, the ARB adopted a Diesel Risk Reduction Plan in 2000 and has already passed regulations addressing urban buses, garbage trucks, school bus and truck idling, stationary engines, transport refrigeration units, cargo handling equipment at ports and rail yards, off-road vehicles, port trucks and other sources.

Statewide Bus and Truck Regulation:

http://www.arb.ca.gov/regact/2008/truckbus08/truckbus08.htm

Heavy Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Reduction Measure:

http://www.arb.ca.gov/regact/2008/ghghdv08/ghghdv08.htm

Record Pollutant Reductions From Environmental Enforcement in 2008

Nearly 3.9 Billion Pounds of Pollution Prevented

(Washington, D.C. - Dec. 4, 2008) Fiscal year 2008 was a banner year for EPA’s enforcement and compliance program, which concluded civil and criminal enforcement actions requiring regulated entities to spend an estimated $11.8 billion on pollution controls, cleanup and environmental projects, a record for EPA.

“After these pollution control activities are completed, EPA estimates record pollution reductions of 3.9 billion pounds per year,” said Granta Nakayama, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “This is nearly four times the level of pollution reduction achieved in FY 2007.”

Notable accomplishments included cutting tons of air pollution from power plants, convicting environmental criminals, stopping the import of illegal engines, protecting the nation’s water from construction site runoff, and holding polluters accountable for hazardous waste cleanups.

New Regulations Will Clean Up NYS Owned and Operated Diesel Engines

Regulations will Improve Public Health, Create Economic Opportunities and Help Reduce Health Care Costs

A coalition of environmental, public health and business groups testified this week in support of regulations drafted by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) which implement aspects of the New York State (DERA). Public hearings on the regulations are taking place from Nov. 24-26, 2008, in Albany, Long Island City and Avon.

As specified in regulations, which were published in the New York State Register on October 8, on-road and off-road heavy duty diesel vehicles which are owned or under contract with New York State must use ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD) fuel, and be fitted with best available retrofit technologies by December 31, 2010.

"Year after year, and day after day, New Yorkers are exposed to some of the dirtiest air in the nation," said Louise Vetter, Chief Executive Officer for the American Lung Association of New York. "These regulations will ensure that technology, which is available today and can be installed immediately, will be required on the state owned and operated fleet of diesel powered on-road and off-road vehicles."

"Implementation of comprehensive NY DERA regulations will support the jobs and economic development investment Corning has made in upstate New York," said G. Thomas Tranter, Jr., President, Corning Enterprises.

The Diesel Emission Reduction Act of 2006 required the Commissioner of DEC to enact rules governing which technologies shall be considered best available retrofit technologies. The law also established the following schedule for installing the retrofit technologies: not less than 33 percent of vehicles by December 31, 2008; not less than 66 percent of vehicles by December 31, 2009; and, not less than 100% of vehicles by December 31, 2010.

"Environmental Advocates of New York applauds Governor Paterson and Commissioner Grannis for taking this monumental step to clean-up our air. Dirty diesel emissions account for a major portion of the pollution endangering our environment and the health of our families. We urge the Department of Environmental Conservation to finalize the proposed rule without delay, as every day that passes without curbing diesel emissions is another day of increased rates of asthma in children and the further degradation of our natural resources," said Jackson Morris, Environmental Advocates of new York.

Air pollution problems and their attendant health threats have become serious statewide issues. Millions of New Yorkers are at-risk. In fact, according to the EPA, 89 percent of the state's population lives in a county where air quality does not attain federal health standards. In addition, the EPA has declared the counties of Suffolk, Nassau, Queens, Kings, Richmond, New York, Bronx, Westchester, Rockland and Orange in "non-attainment" for fine particles.

"The health and environmental impacts of diesel emissions are staggering," said Laura Haight, senior environmental associate of the New York Public Interest Research Group. "We urge New York State to adopt and implement these regulations as soon as possible. This is an investment in cleaner air, healthier communities, safer workplaces, and green jobs. Most importantly, it will save lives."

The high air pollution levels in New York State make people sick and even cut lives short. Diesel pollution has been shown by a wealth of science to trigger asthma attacks; is linked to heart attacks, cancer and even premature death; and is associated with ambient levels of both ozone and fine particles.

"These regulations will ensure that all New Yorkers breathe healthier air," said Isabelle Silverman, an attorney with Environmental Defense Fund. "We owe it to our children to retrofit diesel vehicles with filters that trap more than 85 percent of the toxic pollution that can impair their lung and brain development."

According to the New York State Department of Health, the typical hospital bill for a person on Medicaid who is hospitalized for an asthma attack is $9,500, which is more than a diesel particulate filter (DPF) would cost. Thus, if each DPF installed provides enough clean air to avoid just one asthma-related hospital admission, then the legislation pays for itself. Furthermore, this law will increase economic opportunities for companies in New York State who currently make diesel emission reduction technologies.

"Diesel pollution is a very serious public health problem in New York, but we can solve it," said Richard Kassel, Director of the Clean Fuels and Vehicles Project at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). "Given that two years have passed since a law was signed to clean up the state's diesel vehicles, it's time to get these regulations in place and clean up New York's dirty diesels."

"In the case of dirty diesel, the scientific link to lung cancer is a solid one," said Peter Slocum, vice president of advocacy, American Cancer Society of NY & NJ. "Swift implementation of these regulations will result in fewer diesel emissions by state vehicles, cleaner air and less cancer risk for New Yorkers."

"Dirty diesel emissions are a threat to public health and the environment. Requiring cleaner systems, that use affordable, available technology, is a logical, protective measure that should be swiftly implemented. Running diesel engines in the 21st century, requiring 21st century technology, just makes sense." stated Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director, Citizens Campaign for the Environment.

The American Lung Association's State of the Air 2008 report found that from Buffalo to Bayport, and from Staten Island to Saratoga millions of New Yorkers are being forced to breathe unhealthy air. For most of the state, there truly is no escape for New Yorkers whose health is impacted by air pollution.

Investing in diesel reduction is good for New York's economy. There will be increased economic opportunity for companies in New York that manufacture diesel emission reduction technology. Many cost-effective and affordable retrofit technologies are currently available reducing particulate matter (soot) pollution by over 85 percent.

Diesel emissions contribute to climate change and smog. Diesel engines release a wide array of harmful substances directly into our air -- including particulate matter (soot), nitrogen oxides that act as a precursor to ozone, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. It is estimated that diesel emissions include a staggering 40 hazardous air pollutants that are listed under the Clean Air Act.

Diesel emissions remain a particularly troublesome health threat. They are a contributing factor to the ozone problems facing so many New York communities and are a big reason why the New York City metro area has such a problem with fine particles. Diesel particulate filters trap fine particles. In fact, New York State has the highest number of deaths and the greatest rate of disease associated with diesel exhaust particles. The New York City metropolitan area leads the nation in total deaths, cancer deaths, and heart attacks associated with diesel emissions. Unlike many areas of the country, the health effects associated with diesel pollution in New York are even greater than those associated with power plant fine particle pollution.

An interactive map showing air quality findings in New York, by county, is available at http://www.alany.org/.

See the Source:

American Lung Association

Online Tools Make it Easy to Track Power Plant Emissions

With just a few clicks of the mouse, you can find information on air emissions from power plants. EPA has issued a new edition of its Emissions & Generation Resource Integrated Database (eGRID) and updated Power Profiler to help you better understand the environmental impacts of electricity use. With today's updates, eGRID and Power Profiler now contain 2005 emissions data.

eGRID is a comprehensive air emissions database of electric power plants in the United States, including emissions data on nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide and mercury. The new edition of eGRID now also provides emissions data on two greenhouse gases, methane and nitrous oxide.

Power Profiler is a user friendly online tool that helps consumers see how their individual energy use is impacting air emissions. Using data from eGRID, Power Profiler calculates how much nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide are emitted from electricity use.

Through eGRID, you can:
- Use emission rates for calculations based on electricity use (carbon footprinting, greenhouse gas inventories);
- Find out which plants emit the most and least pollution in the country;
- Examine the emissions and fuel mix of different electric generating companies; and
- Use the information for academic papers and research projects.

Power Profiler allows you to:
- See the air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions impact of electricity used in your home or business;
- See the fuel mix of electric generation in your region of the country;
- Compare these figures to national averages; and
- Learn how to reduce emissions through greater energy efficiency and use of renewable energy.

More about eGRID: http://www.epa.gov/egrid
More about Power Profiler: http://www.epa.gov/powerprofiler

EPA Finalizes Revisions to the 2005 Hazardous Waste Combustor NESHAP Rule

EPA is amending the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants rule for new and existing hazardous waste combustors. These standards implement the Clean Air Act by requiring hazardous waste combustors to meet emission standards reflecting the application of the maximum achievable control technology. The rule is the final action regarding the eight issues for which EPA granted reconsideration in September 2006. The revisions also address comments received in response to a September 2007 notice.

As a result of this reconsideration process, EPA is:
- Revising the new source particulate matter standards for cement kilns and incinerators that burn hazardous waste to better reflect the performance of the best controlled source over time. The change in the standards resulted from consideration of additional performance data;
- Amending the particulate matter detection system provisions and revisions to the health-based compliance alternative provisions for total chlorine;
- Identifying the emissions standards EPA intends to defend in pending litigation and is responding to public comments on a related Sept. 27, 2007 notice; and
- Making several corrections and clarifications to the rule.

The revised provisions are effective immediately and do not change the Oct. 14, 2008, compliance date established by the October 2005 final rule. The final rule should be published in the Federal Register in about two weeks.

More information is available at: http://www.epa.gov/osw/hazard/tsd/td/combust/finalmact/index.htm

U.S. Air Quality Standards for Lead Now 10 Times Stronger

EPA dramatically strengthened the nation's air quality standards for lead, improving public health protection, especially for children. The new standards tighten the allowable lead level 10 times to 0.15 micrograms of lead per cubic meter of air (ug/m3).

"America's air is cleaner than a generation ago," said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. "With these stronger standards a new generation of Americans are being protected from harmful lead emissions."

This decision marks the first time the lead standards have changed in 30 years. EPA strengthened the standards after a thorough review of the science on lead, advice from the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, and consideration of public comments. The previous standards, set in 1978, were 1.5 ug/m3.

EPA's action sets two standards: a primary standard at 0.15 ug/m3 to protect health and a secondary standard at the same level to protect the public welfare, including the environment.

The existing monitoring network for lead is not sufficient to determine whether many areas of the country would meet the revised standards. EPA is redesigning the nation's lead monitoring network, which is necessary for the agency to assess compliance with the new standard.

No later than October 2011, EPA will designate areas that must take additional steps to reduce lead air emissions. States have five years to meet these new standards after designations take effect.

More than 6,000 studies since 1990 have examined the effects of lead on health and the environment. Some studies have linked exposure to low levels of lead with damage to children's development, including IQ loss.

Lead can be inhaled or can be ingested after settling out of the air. Ingestion is the main route of human exposure. Once in the body, lead is rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream and can affect many organ systems including children's developing nervous systems. Lead emissions have dropped nearly 97 percent nationwide since 1980, largely the result of the agency's phase-out of lead in gasoline. Average levels of lead in the air today are far below the 1978 standards. Lead in the air comes from a variety of sources, including smelters, iron and steel foundries, and general aviation gasoline. More than 1,300 tons of lead are emitted to the air each year, according to EPA's most recent estimates.

Since September 2006, EPA has strengthened air quality standards for lead, ground-level ozone and particulate matter.

For more information about lead in air visit: http://www.epa.gov/air/lead

EPA and New York Slate One Million for Clean Diesel Projects

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) have slated more than $1 million to clean up old dirty diesel engines across the state. New York received more than $600,000 from EPA and has leveraged an additional $413,448 in state funding. Under this grant, the New York State Energy and Research Development Authority (NYSERDA) – a key partner in EPA's Clean School Bus USA program - will receive $857,705 to retrofit school buses with a combination of innovative clean technologies. Additionally, $175,915 will be awarded to NYSDEC to help purchase hybrid diesel electric marine engines for their new patrol boat used to safeguard the Hudson River.

“Diesel engines can be very dirty and they contribute significantly to air pollution,” said Alan J. Steinberg, EPA Regional Administrator. “But they don’t have to be dirty - we can put controls on old engines and use cleaner engines in our new equipment to drastically cut pollution from these sources.”

NYSDEC Commissioner Pete Grannis said, "As technologies to improve air quality continue to be developed, it is important to find ways to make these methods available to our communities. DEC is pleased to receive these funds to help improve our patrol boat fleet through the use of hybrid technology and we also applaud the support being provided to protect school children around the state from harmful emissions."

School districts can request funding and help from NYSERDA, which has helped nearly 90 school districts put pollution controls on more than 3,000 school buses. Using the grant money, NYSERDA will help organizations reduce their diesel emissions by installing diesel oxidation catalysts, closed crankcase filtration systems, diesel particulate filters and by applying idle reduction measures. The NYSDEC will use its grant money to pay for two new hybrid 3.2 liter (250 horsepower) diesel marine engines with electric drives for their new 36-foot enforcement patrol boat. The clean engines reduce diesel emissions and save 8,000 gallons of fuel per year.

Today’s announcement is only a portion of funding for clean diesel projects under the $50 million National Clean Diesel Campaign. The funding, newly available this year, will support grants to help save fuel and lower greenhouse gas and diesel exhaust emissions from the existing fleet of 11 million diesel engines.

The EPA’s new heavy-duty highway and non-road diesel engine standards will take effect over the next decade, and will significantly reduce emissions from new engines. However, the standards apply only to engines manufactured in the year 2007 and beyond. The 11 million diesel engines in use today will continue to pollute unless emissions are controlled with innovative technology and/or cleaner fuels. The EPA’s National Clean Diesel Campaign assists fleets with controlling these diesel emissions from the 11 million legacy diesel engines with financial and technical assistance. Today’s funding for New York is part of $14.8 million that has been awarded across the nation this year under the State Clean Diesel program.

EPA is working collaboratively with New Jersey to reduce emissions of harmful diesel exhaust. In 2005, regions 1 and 2 of the U.S. EPA, the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management and the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont established the Northeast Diesel Collaborative (NEDC). NEDC is a partnership of public and private organizations working to improve air quality by taking action to reduce diesel pollution. Puerto Rico joined in 2007 and the U.S. Virgin Islands joined in 2008. Today, the collaborative combines the expertise of public and private partners in a coordinated regional initiative to reduce diesel emissions and improve public health in the eight northeastern states as well as Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

See the Source:

EPA Clean Diesel Efforts

Northeast Diesel Collaborative

Many U.S. Public Schools in ‘Air Pollution Danger Zone’

Cincinnati—One in three U.S. public schools are in the “air pollution danger zone,” according to new research from the University of Cincinnati (UC). UC researchers have found that more than 30 percent of American public schools are within 400 meters, or a quarter mile, of major highways that consistently serve as main truck and traffic routes.

Research has shown that proximity to major highways—and thus environmental pollutants, such as aerosolizing diesel exhaust particles—can leave school-age children more susceptible to respiratory diseases later in life.

“This is a major public health concern that should be given serious consideration in future urban development, transportation planning and environmental policies,” says Sergey Grinshpun, PhD, principal investigator of the study and professor of environmental health at UC.

To protect the health of young children with developing lungs, he says new schools should be built further from major highways.

“Health risk can be mitigated through proper urban planning, but that doesn’t erase the immediate risk to school-age children attending schools that are too close to highways right now,” he adds. “Existing schools should be retrofitted with air filtration systems that will reduce students’ exposure to traffic pollutants.”

The UC-led team reports its findings in the September 2008 issue of the Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, an international scientific journal. This is believed to be the first national study of school proximity and health risks associated with major roadways.
For this study, Grinshpun’s team conducted a survey of major metropolitan areas representative of all geographical regions of the United States: Atlanta, Boston, Cincinnati, Denver, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Memphis, Minneapolis and San Antonio.

More than 8,800 schools representing 6 million students were included in the survey. Primary data was collected through the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics.

Schools within this data set were then geocoded to accurately calculate distance to the nearest interstate, U.S. highway or state highway.

Past research on highway-related air pollution exposure has focused on residences located close to major roads. Grinshpun points out, however, that school-age children spend more than 30 percent of their day on school grounds—in classrooms, after-school care or extracurricular activities.

“For many years, our focus has been on homes when it comes to air pollution. School attendance may result in a large dose of inhaled traffic pollutants that—until now—have been completely overlooked,” he adds.

These past studies suggest this proximity to highway traffic puts school-age children at an increased risk for asthma and respiratory problems later in life from air pollutants and aeroallergens.

This includes research from the UC Cincinnati Childhood Allergy and Air Pollution Study (CCAAPS) which has reported that exposure to traffic pollutants in close proximity to main roads has been associated with increased risk for asthma and other chronic respiratory problems during childhood. Grinshpun’s team found that public school students were more likely to attend schools near major highways compared to the general population. Researchers say the rapid expansion of metropolitan areas in recent years—deemed “urban sprawl”—seems to be associated with the consistent building of schools near highways.

“Major roads play an important role in the economy, but we need to strike a balance between economic and health considerations as we break ground on new areas,” says Alexandra Appatova, the study’s first author. “Policymakers need to develop new effective strategies that would encourage urban planners to reconsider our current infrastructure, particularly when it comes to building new schools and maintaining existing ones.”

The state of California, for example, has passed a law prohibiting the building of new schools within 500 feet (168 meters) of a busy road. New Jersey is moving a bill through the legislature to require highway entrance and exit ramps to be at least 1,000 feet from schools.

This study was funded in part by grants from UC’s Center for Sustainable Urban Engineering and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. UC’s Patrick Ryan, PhD, and Grace LeMasters, PhD, also participated in this study. Appatova was an intern in UC’s department of environmental health when the study was being conducted.

See Source:

University of Cincinnati

EPA Tightens Engine Standards on Surf and Turf

From lawn mowers and weed trimmers, to personal watercraft and speedboats, gas-powered engines will soon contribute to healthier and cleaner air for Americans. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set strict new standards for gas-powered lawn equipment and marine engines, enhancing public health by substantially reducing the amount of gas fumes, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and smog-forming pollutants emitted from a wide range of engines. The regulations will take effect in 2010 and 2011.

"EPA's new small engine standards will allow Americans to cut air pollution as well as grass," said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. "These standards help fight smog in our neighborhoods and waterways as we continue to improve the environmental landscape."

When fully implemented, the rule will yield annual emission reductions of 600,000 tons of hydrocarbons, 130,000 tons of nitrogen oxide (NOx), 5,500 tons of direct particulate matter, and 1.5 million tons of carbon monoxide (CO). EPA expects the new standards to save approximately 190 million gallons of gasoline each year.

The rule kicks into gear in 2011 for lawn and garden equipment of 25 horsepower or less. For a full range of gas-powered personal watercraft and inboard and outboard engines, the rule powers up in 2010.

To meet the new exhaust emission standards, manufacturers will likely employ catalytic converters for the first time in many small watercraft and lawn and garden equipment. After rigorous analysis and work with stakeholders, EPA determined this strategy was feasible and safe. This regulation also includes the first national standards for boats powered by stern-drive or inboard engines, and carbon monoxide standards for gasoline-powered engines used in recreational watercraft.

Non-road gasoline-powered engines, such as those used in lawn and garden equipment, will see an additional 35 percent reduction in smog-forming hydrocarbon (HC) and NOx emissions. These cuts go beyond the 60 percent reduction that saw final implementation two years ago under an earlier rulemaking. The updated engines will also achieve a 45 percent reduction in fuel evaporative emissions.

Recreational watercraft powered by gasoline engines will incur a 70 percent reduction in HC and NOx emissions, a 20 percent reduction in CO and a 70 percent reduction in fuel evaporative emissions.

Each year, Americans spend more than 3 billion hours using lawn and garden equipment and more than 500 million hours in recreational boating. As a result, the total estimated public health benefits range between $1.6 and $4.4 billion by 2030. These benefits outweigh estimated costs by at least eight to one, while preventing over 300 premature deaths, 1,700 hospitalizations, and 23,000 lost workdays annually.

The rule opens another chapter in EPA's success story of curbing emissions from non-road sources. EPA has recently set stringent emission standards for farm and construction equipment, off-road recreational vehicles, and for locomotives and commercial marine sources.

See the Source:

EPA: Lawn and Garden (Small Gasoline) Equipment
EPA: Gasoline Boats and Personal Watercraft

Court Rules for Clean Air

In Sierra Club vs. Environmental Protection Agency, the DC Circuit Court today struck down a Bush administration rule limiting states’ ability to enforce the Clean Air Act. The rule blocked states from issuing their own air monitoring requirements for soot, smog, mercury and other types of air pollution from power plants, factories and other stationary sources. As a result states were forced to abide by the lax federal standards, which required virtually no monitoring of dangerous air pollution.

In response the Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope issued the following statement.

"This is huge victory against one of the most egregious rollbacks of environmental protections in our nation’s history.

"As one of the first rollbacks of the Bush Administration, this rule helped set a pattern of limiting the application of environmental laws to benefit polluters and denying the public the right know about pollution in their communities.

"Public health should be a top priority, not polluters’ profits. Today’s decision will give states back the tools they need to hold polluters accountable and help ensure that everyone has clean, healthy air to breathe."

See the Source:
Sierra Club
Unite States Court of Appeals

air pollution
Clean Air Act

EPA Seeks Applications for Clean Air Excellence Awards

EPA and the Clean Air Act Advisory Committee (CAAAC) are accepting applications for the Ninth Annual Clean Air Excellence Awards Program.

Winners are honored for outstanding accomplishments in programs, projects or technologies that reduce air pollution emissions. Applicants are judged in five awards categories: (1) clean air technology; (2) community development/redevelopment; (3) education/outreach (4) regulatory/policy innovations; and (5) transportation efficiency innovations.

In addition, winners will be recognized in two special award categories. The Gregg Cooke Visionary Program Award is given to the air quality project or program that successfully blends two or more of the five existing awards categories. The Thomas W. Zosel Outstanding Individual Achievement Award recognizes one individual for his or her outstanding achievement, leadership, and commitment to promote clean air and achieve better air quality.

All applications for the awards should be postmarked on or before September 19, 2008. The awards will be announced in spring 2009.

The CAAAC is an independent policy committee that provides advice to EPA on air issues.

Information on applying for the awards: http://www.epa.gov/air/caaac/clean_award.html

Air Pollution Episodes Especially Harmful to Athletes and Outdoor Workers

Health effects include respiratory problems, DNA damage

Staff fom the ARB have recently presented research to the California Air Resources Board that links air pollution episodes to adverse health effects for athletes and those who must work outdoors.

Scientists have found that outdoor exercise during high levels of smog or particulate matter may cause otherwise healthy individuals to experience lung function decrease, exacerbation of asthma, and even DNA damage. For those with pre-existing respiratory or heart ailments, the danger is even greater.

"This report once again shows that an active person's zeal for fitness may sometimes do more harm than good when air quality is suffering," said ARB Chairman Mary Nichols. "People should be aware of air quality in their region and take precautions to protect their health when pollution spikes occur. For example, we are surprised and alarmed to find many people out exercising during the recent rash of wildfires that have blanketed much of the state in smoke."

The findings from the studies include:
* A three-fold decrease in lung function after walking near diesel traffic compared to walking in a park with no traffic;

* A four-fold increase in DNA damage after cycling in traffic;

* A 10 percent reduction in lung function after cycling with ozone exposure;

* Delivery of oxygen to the heart may drop by three times when exercising while exposed to diesel exhaust; and,

* A three-fold increase in asthma development for children who played multiple sports in high ozone areas.

Research shows that during exercise, people breathe faster; a greater proportion of air is inhaled through the mouth, bypassing nasal filtration, and pollutants are carried more deeply into the lungs. And, greater volumes of air are exchanged during exercise -- up to 10 or 20 times more air compared to when at rest.

As breathing rates increase so does the quantity of pollutants inhaled. Anyone exercising outdoors during times of high pollution should remember they will receive a greater dose of pollutants. Additionally, research studies found that people who exercise near roadways such as joggers, cyclists and pedestrians experience increased risk because not only are they exposed to outdoor air pollution but traffic-related pollution as well.

For people who already have compromised lung function or heart disease, these risks are amplified.

It is well established that exercise promotes health and fitness. Regular exercise can help counteract the negative effects of air pollution. For example, regular activity may improve removal of inhaled particles from the lungs and can strengthen immune defenses. Prior to exercise outdoors, people can protect themselves by heeding air quality advisories, available in local newspapers, television weather reports, and through local health agencies, air districts and U.S.

For more information:

Air Now EPA

air pollution

Clean Diesel Emerging Technology Grant Funding Now Available

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to award approximately $3.4 million in grants to establish projects using emerging technologies to reduce emissions from the nation's existing fleet of diesel engines. Addressing the existing fleet is important because it pre-dates EPA's stringent new particulate and nitrogen oxide standards and diesels remain in use for decades. This sum was authorized by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and funded for the first time this fiscal year.

State, local, regional and tribal governments may apply for the grants, as well as non-profits and institutions with transportation, educational service, and air quality responsibilities. Emerging technology manufacturers must partner with an eligible applicant to receive this funding. The grants are targeting school or transit buses, medium and heavy-duty trucks, marine engines, locomotives and non-road engines. Grant proposals must be submitted by Sept. 21, 2008. The final awards will be announced in December.

The grants will be administered by EPA's National Clean Diesel Campaign under the Emerging Technology Program (ETP). ETP supports the development and commercialization of new, cutting-edge technologies. The program gives manufacturers the opportunity to capture real world data and gain valuable operating experience on their technology while it is used by fleet partners.

An emerging technology is a device or strategy that reduces emissions from diesel engines or equipment that has not been verified or certified by EPA or the California Air Resources Board (ARB). To qualify as an emerging technology, manufacturers must submit an application and test plan to EPA or ARB. Each technology will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis to determine if it qualifies as an emerging technology.

Qualified emerging technologies will be added to the Emerging Technologies List. One of the first qualifying technologies is Caterpillars' Marine Emissions Upgrade Group (EUG). Specifics of each technology including the emission reductions and engine applications can be found on the Emerging Technology List.

See the Source:
EPA - Grant Fund

Emerging Technology Program

View the qualifying emerging technologies

ARB's Carl Moyer Program Provides $8.2 Million for Cleaner Diesel Engines

The Air Resources Board awarded $8.2 million in June to expedite cleanup of dirty diesel engines via projects that improve air quality in more than one of California's 35 air districts.

Winning projects funded under the state's Carl Moyer Program are based up and down the state, and include companies based in Northern and Southern California, Sacramento, Las Vegas and the San Joaquin Valley.

"The Carl Moyer program has a long history of innovation and success," said ARB Chairman Mary Nichols. "The funding helps air districts improve air quality and meet federal deadlines, while also providing businesses with incentives to invest in and demonstrate advanced emission control technologies. And of course, the public benefits by having cleaner air to breathe."

To qualify for Carl Moyer monies, projects must provide early or extra emission reductions. Each project grant is administered through the local air district where the project is based.

Over its first seven years (1998-2005), the Carl Moyer Program provided $170 million to clean up approximately 7,500 engines throughout California, reducing about 24 tons per day of smog-forming oxides of nitrogen and one ton per day of toxic diesel particulate matter.

Smog can exacerbate a variety of cardiovascular and respiratory conditions such as heart disease and asthma, while diesel particulate matter was recognized as a cancer-causing health risk in 1998.

This year, the ARB received over $39 million in requests for $8.2 million in available multi-district project funding. Projects were scored based on factors including cost-effectiveness, regulatory jurisdiction, environmental justice considerations and project schedule.

The 2007-08 multi-district projects are expected over their lifetime to reduce smog-forming and diesel particulate emissions by 2,184 tons.

Eligible projects fall into categories including on-road, off-road, marine and locomotive. This year, on-road projects accounted for $1,889,933 of the available funding. Off-road projects totaled $792,916, marine $844,179, and locomotive efforts utilized the lion's share at $4,749,161.

See the Source:

California Environmental Protection Agency

Find out:

How to reduce diesel pollution using diesel particulate filters

ARB Proposes World's Strictest Regulation Curbing Emissions from Ocean-Going Vessels

If passed, rule would prevent thousands of premature deaths annually

The California Air Resources Board has released a proposed regulation that would require ocean-going vessels within 24 nautical miles off California's coastline to use cleaner fuel in their main and auxiliary engines, and boilers.

The measure to be considered by the Air Resources Board at its July 26 and 27 meeting would annually affect about 2,000 ocean-going vessels visiting California. The vessels would be required to use lower-sulfur marine distillates rather than the highly polluting heavy-fuel oil often called bunker fuel.

"The gains made by this regulation will save lives all along the coast and provide significant health benefits for those living near heavily used California seaports." explained ARB Deputy Director, Michael Scheible. "We're requiring very large reductions that will greatly lessen air pollution from ships."

The proposed regulation requiring ships to use more refined fuel with lower sulfur content would be implemented in two steps - first in 2009 and final in 2012 - and would be the most stringent and comprehensive requirement for marine fuel-use in the world. Both U.S.-flagged and foreign-flagged vessels would be to subject to the statewide regulation.

The draft regulation would reduce emissions of toxic particulate matter from the vessels' diesel engines by 15 tons per day, an 80 percent reduction of the uncontrolled emissions now. Emissions of oxides of sulfur and nitrogen, major contributors to California's air pollution problems, would also be reduced by 90 and six percent, respectively.

The proposed regulation would have large health benefits for Californians. An estimated 2,000 premature deaths between 2009 and 2015 would be avoided, and the cancer risk caused by emissions from these vessels would be reduced by over 80 percent. In addition, the emission reductions would aid the South Coast Air Quality Management District meet federal clean air requirements for fine particulate matter by 2014. The regulation is also needed for ARB to achieve its targeted 85 percent reduction of diesel PM by 2020.

Diesel exhaust contains a variety of harmful gases and over 40 other known cancer-causing substances. Currently, diesel PM emissions from ocean-going vessels expose over seven million people in California to high cancer risk levels - in excess of 100 in a million for lifetime exposures.

To reach its goal of reducing diesel PM throughout California, over the past eight years ARB has adopted regulations affecting cargo-handling equipment, transport refrigeration units, truck idling, off-road equipment, harbor craft, port drayage trucks, onboard incineration, and ships at-berth. ARB's cleaner fuel requirements for railroad and ship engines have reduced pollution around rail yards and ports. And this fall ARB will consider measures to reduce emissions from heavy duty diesel trucks.

The Air Resources Board is a department of the California Environmental Protection Agency. ARB's mission is to promote and protect public health, welfare, and ecological resources through effective reduction of air pollutants while recognizing and considering effects on the economy. The ARB oversees all air pollution control efforts in California to attain and maintain health based air quality standards.

See the Source:
ARB

Government Takes Action for Cleaner Air: Air Quality Alert System Expanded to 5.3 Million People Living in the Greater Toronto Area

BURLINGTON, ONTARIO - June 6, 2008 - Mike Wallace, Member of Parliament for Burlington, on behalf of Canada's Environment Minister John Baird, and Health Minister Tony Clement, today announced that the world's first Air Quality Health Index is being expanded to six communities in the Greater Toronto Area.

"Canadians are entitled to clean air, to know the quality of the air they breathe and what they can do to reduce harmful impacts of air pollution," said Mr. Wallace. "

A year ago our Government announced $30 million to establish an alert system across the country to provide Canadians with the tools they need to make the right decisions for their families. This investment, combined with our Turning the Corner plan to cut air pollution from industry by 50 per cent, shows how serious we are about cleaning up the air we breathe and improving the health of Canadians."

Canada's Air Quality Health Index, found at http://www.airhealth.ca/, provides real time information to Canadians on the quality of the air they're breathing. It is a key tool in preventing injury and illness to those with asthma or other respiratory illnesses. The project is supported jointly by the Governments of Canada and Ontario, along with Toronto Public Health. In July 2007, the Government of Canada announced the 18-month pilot project for Toronto.

"Ontario is a world leader when it comes to fighting air pollution and protecting the health of its citizens," said Ontario Environment Minister John Gerretsen. "As a province, we support the pilot Air Quality Health Index because we want citizens in the Greater Toronto Area and other cities to have access to the most accurate information possible on the health risks of poor air.

"Today's announcement is part of a clean air initiative across Canada where Member of Parliament Ed Fast announced that the British Columbian pilot project is moving from a pilot program to full implementation. British Columbians in 14 communities across the province will now have access to the most up to date air quality information available.With federal funding of $30 million over four years, the Air Quality Health Index will be rolled out to other mid- and large-sized communities across the country. Federal partnerships with municipal and provincial and governments and non-governmental organizations partnerships are key to the program's success in Ontario, essential air quality monitoring data and assistance with forecasting the health index is provided by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment.

This announcement compliments the Governments other clean air initiatives including the launch of a national vehicle scrapage program to get smog-producing cars off the road, tough new emissions standards to reduce air pollution from cars and limits on smog-producing chemicals in everyday products.

See the Source:

Government of Canada - Environmental Initiatives

Is Air Pollution Associated with Ventricular Arrhythmia?

Introduction: Premature ventricular complexes are a normal finding in healthy individuals and the prevalence increases with age and is more common in men. Premature ventricular complexes can occur in association with a variety of stimuli, and a lesser known cause is the association between air pollution and ventricular arrhythmias.

Case presentation: A previously healthy man started to ride a lightweight motorbike in heavy traffic.

A few weeks later he was admitted to hospital with premature ventricular complexes in bigeminy, which decreased after a few days when he was not exposed to exhaust fumes. A few weeks later he started using the motorbike again and the same symptoms developed once more, only to subside when he stopped riding in heavy traffic.

Conclusions: Studies have shown an association between air pollution and premature ventricular complexes and other kinds of arrhythmias.

The mechanism may be changes in cardiac autonomic function, including heart rate and heart rate variability. Air pollution should be considered when patients present with arrhythmias and no other causes are found.

See the Source:

7th space Interactive

Journal of Medical Case Reports

air pollution

Breathing Dust and Soot Raises Risk of Stroke

ANN ARBOR, Michigan, June 2, 2008 - Short-term exposure to low levels of particulate air pollution may increase the risk of stroke or mini-stroke, according to new research conducted in Texas that suggests current exposure standards are not sufficient to protect the public. Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States.

The study examined particulate air pollution in the southeast Texas community of Corpus Christi where there is a large petroleum and petrochemical industry presence.

The results showed what the researchers called "borderline significant associations" between same day and previous day exposures to fine particulate matter and risk of ischemic strokes.

Ischemic (is-skeem-ic) stroke occurs when an artery to the brain is blocked.

In the study, researchers identified ischemic strokes and also transient ischemic attacks, or TIA, sometimes called mini strokes, that often lead to a stroke later.

Findings suggest that recent exposure to fine particulate matter may increase the risk of these types of stroke events specifically.

Particulate matter is a combination of fine solids such as dirt, soil dust, pollens, molds, ashes, and soot; and aerosols that are formed in the atmosphere from gaseous combustion by-products such as volatile organic compounds, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides.

Particulate pollution comes from such diverse sources as factory and utility smokestacks, vehicle exhaust, wood burning, mining, construction activity, and agriculture.

"The vast majority of the public is exposed to ambient air pollution at the levels observed in this community or greater every day, suggesting a potentially large public health impact," said Lynda Lisabeth, lead author and assistant professor in the University of Michigan School of Public Health, where the research is based.

Despite the fossil fuel industry in the area, fine particulate matter exposures were low relative to other regions of the country, the researchers said probably because of the proximity to the coast and prevailing wind patterns.

Lisabeth stressed that the association requires further study in other areas with varying climates and alternative study designs.

Ischemic stroke is by far the most common kind of stroke, accounting for about 88 percent of all strokes. Stroke can affect people of all ages, including children.

Many people with ischemic strokes are 60 or older, and the risk of stroke increases as people age. At each age, stroke is more common in men than women, and it is more common among African-Americans than white Americans.

For this study, researchers looked at data from the Brain Attack Surveillance in Corpus Christi Project, a population-based stroke surveillance project designed to capture all strokes in Nueces County, Texas.

Ischemic stroke and TIA cases between 2001 and 2005 were identified using trained staff and later verified by neurologists.

Daily historical air pollutant and meteorological data were obtained for the same time period from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's Monitoring Operations database.

Data on fine particulate matter and ozone from a centrally located monitor in Corpus Christi located upwind of the local industrial facilities was used in the study.

The majority of stroke and TIA cases were found to be located upwind of local chemical plants and refineries.

Some research has shown that particulate air pollution is associated with acute artery vasoconstriction and with increased thickening of the blood, which may enhance the potential for blood clots.

Similar associations were also seen with ozone, another type of air pollution.

This study confirms earlier research showing that exposure to fine particle matter air pollution increases a person's risk for hospital admission for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.

The study, "Ambient Air Pollution and Risk of Ischemic Stroke and TIA," will be published in the July 2008 issue of Annals of Neurology http://www.interscience.wiley.com/, the official journal of the American Neurological Association.

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How to decrease diesel particulate pollution using diesel particulate filters.

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Environmental Groups Petition to Overturn EPA Ozone Standard

WASHINGTON, DC, May 28, 2008 - Health and environmental advocates filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's refusal to adopt stronger standards for ground-level ozone proposed by the agency's own scientists.

The American Lung Association, Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Defense Fund, the National Parks Conservation Association, and the Appalachian Mountain Club are taking issue with the standards adopted by the federal environment agency in March.

The standards for ozone pollution, one of the components of smog, are not only far weaker than those unanimously recommended by EPA science advisors, but also leave public health and the environment at great risk, the groups contend.

"EPA officials ignored the advice of their own scientists when they chose these deficient standards, but they can't ignore the law," said attorney David Baron with the public interest law firm Earthjustice who filed the lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Washington, DC Circuit.

"The Clean Air Act requires EPA to adopt standards strong enough to protect our lungs and our environment. We're fighting to make sure that happens," Baron said. "Stronger standards could save thousands of lives, by some estimates."

EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson is already under suspicion of bowing to White House pressure to reject stronger smog standards. Johnson was grilled last week by members of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform who asked why he rejected the advice of scientists in setting the standard.

Before the committee on May 20, Johnson defended his actions and insisted that he was solely responsible for the smog decision. He declined to provide details about his meetings with the president and other White House officials.

"I have routine meetings with the executive branch including the president … those meetings are in confidence," Johnson told the committee.

Johnson testified beside the head of EPA's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, Dr. Rogene Henderson, who critiqued Johnson's actions, telling committee members, "Policymakers wandered into science and they did not do it well."

"Willful ignorance triumphed over sound science," Henderson told the legislators.

Henderson's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee had recommended that the EPA set the health standard at between 60 and 70 parts of ozone per billion parts of air.

Instead, Johnson and the EPA set the standard at 75 parts per billion.

In their petition for review of the EPA ozone standard, the groups contend that the 75 parts per billion standard leaves asthmatics, young children, the elderly and others at greater risk for lung and heart disease than the standard recommended by the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee .

Smog is linked to premature deaths, thousands of emergency room visits, and tens of thousands of asthma attacks each year. Ozone is especially dangerous to small children and senior citizens, who are often warned to stay indoors on polluted days.

Exposures of less than 24 hours to current levels of ground-level ozone in many areas are likely to contribute to premature deaths, according to a National Research Council report published on Earth Day 2008.

Evidence of a relationship between exposures of less than 24 hours and mortality has been mounting, but interpretations of the evidence have differed, prompting the EPA to request the Research Council report.

The committee that wrote the report was not asked to consider how evidence has been used by the EPA to set ozone standards, but the evidence is strong enough that the EPA should include ozone-related mortality in health-benefit analyses related to future ozone standards, said the committee.

"Ozone pollution threatens breathing for millions of Americans, especially children, the elderly and people with lung disease including asthma," said Bernadette Toomey, President and CEO of the American Lung Association. "The EPA's decision to disregard the overwhelming evidence and the advice of respected experts is a decision that we could not allow to go unchallenged."

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When it Comes to Air Pollution, What You Can't See Can Hurt You

Research presented at American Society of Hypertension's Twenty Third Annual Scientific Meeting and Exposition (ASH 2008) shows that even a few hours of exposure to particulate matter (PM), which is not ozone but a component of air pollution emitted from power plants, factories and motor vehicles, among other sources, is responsible for rapidly raising blood pressure and can impair blood vessel function in certain situations within 24 hours. These effects may explain why air pollution can trigger a large host of CV events including heart attack, heart failure and stroke.

"Not everyone is equally at risk to the effects of poor air quality," said Robert Brook, Assistant Professor of Medicine of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Michigan. "Yet, as traffic worsens and millions of vulnerable people are exposed to PM, it is incumbent upon us to understand how and why people are affected so that we can take steps to limit our personal exposure – and consider making broader changes to the public agenda to control air pollution."

PM is the 13th cause of mortality worldwide, but until now, the explanation underlying this association remains incompletely understood.

In their study, researchers designed two randomized, double-blind exposure experiments – one in downtown Toronto and one in Ann Arbor, Michigan – to investigate how PM raises blood pressure in healthy adults, aged 18 to 50, and what air pollution constituents are responsible. In Toronto, researchers compared the effect on blood pressure and blood vessel functions among 30 adults for two hours in four different exposure situations: concentrated ambient PM (CAPS alone), CAPS and ozone, ozone alone or filtered air. Results showed that short term exposure to air pollution that contains PM (CAP or CAP and ozone) – but not ozone alone – significantly raised diastolic blood pressure by 3.6 mm Hg on average (a significant difference from filtered air), and only during the exposure period of two hours. Blood vessel function was impaired 24 hours after all exposures containing PM, but not ozone alone, and not immediately after any exposure type (within five minutes).

In Ann Arbor, researchers compared the effect of CAP and ozone in 50 adults pre-treated with the anti-oxidant vitamin C, a blocker of the vasoconstrictor hormone endothelin (bosentan) and placebo. Diastolic blood pressure increased to a similar degree, between 2.5 and 4.0 mm Hg, during all exposure types. Blood vessel function was not impaired at any time point after all exposures, and blood pressure returned to normal within 10 minutes after exposure.

Results confirm that it is PM and not ozone that is responsible for the rapid raise in diastolic blood pressure and that the pro-hypertensive response occurs only during the actual inhalation of the particles. The very rapid and transient nature of the increase in blood pressure, and the fact that pre-treatment with vitamin C did not block the response, suggest that a sudden increased in sympathetic nervous system activity is the most like cause.

Additionally, the study confirmed that PM does impair blood vessel function one day following exposure. But since this response occurred only in Toronto, the composition of PM or its source may likely play a role in determining the health response.

"These findings are a springboard for further study that will specifically determine how the sympathetic nervous system responds and to what types of particles in air pollution," said Dr. Brook. "But this glimpse helps us determine the triggers behind a range of CV events – some deadly. Learning how this dangerous cascade starts can help the medical and public health community make advances toward limiting their impact in the future."

About the American Society of HypertensionThe American Society of Hypertension (ASH) is the largest U.S. professional organization of scientific investigators and healthcare professionals committed to eliminating hypertension and its consequences. ASH is dedicated to promoting strategies to prevent hypertension and to improving the care of patients with hypertension and associated disorders. The Society serves as a scientific forum that bridges current hypertension research with effective clinical treatment strategies for patients.

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Air Pollution Might Cause Blood Clots in Legs

Long-term exposure to air pollution appears to be associated with an increased risk of deep vein thrombosis, blood clots in the thigh or legs, according to a new article.

Exposure to particulate air pollution--very small particles of solid and liquid chemicals that come from burning fossil fuels and other sources--has been linked to the increased risk of developing or dying from heart disease and stroke, according to background information in the article. Recent studies have suggested this relationship may result at least in part from the effects of particulate air pollution on blood clotting.

Andrea Baccarelli, M.D., Ph.D., of the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, and colleagues assessed exposure to particulate matter smaller than 10 micrometers in diameter among 870 patients who had been diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis in Lombardy, Italy, between 1995 and 2005. These patients, along with 1,210 controls who did not have deep vein thrombosis, were assigned to one of nine geographic regions based on where they lived at the time of the study. The researchers then used the average concentration of particulate matter for each area, obtained by monitors located at 53 different sites throughout the region, to estimate the level of exposure over the year before diagnosis (for cases) or examination (for controls).

Individuals with deep vein thrombosis tended to have a higher exposure to particulate air pollution than controls. After adjusting for other environmental and health factors, for every increase in particulate matter of 10 micrograms per square meter the previous year, the risk of deep vein thrombosis increased 70 percent. In addition, the blood of patients in both the case and control groups with higher levels of exposure to particulate matter took less time to clot, as measured by a test given in the clinic.

The association between particle exposure and blood clots was stronger in men than in women, and disappeared among women taking oral contraceptives or hormone therapy. "Such hormone therapies are independent risk factors for deep vein thrombosis, which is also confirmed in this study by the higher prevalence of oral contraceptive and hormone use in the cases compared with the controls," the authors write.

"Given the magnitude of the observed effects and the widespread diffusion of particulate pollutants, our findings introduce a novel and common risk factor into the pathogenesis of deep vein thrombosis and, at the same time, give further substance to the call for tighter standards and continued efforts aimed at reducing the impact of urban air pollutants on human health," they conclude.

This work was supported by grants from the Environmental Protection Agency Particulate Matter Center; grants from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences; a grant from the MIUR Internationalization Program; and grants from the CARIPLO Foundation and Lombardy region.

Editorial: Blood Clot Risk Could Increase Estimates of Death Toll from Pollution
Air pollution "has become so omnipresent over the past century as to be commonly perceived as a normal natural entity--'the lazy, hazy days of summer'," writes Robert D. Brook, M.D., of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in an accompanying editorial.

"While we have learned to live within this haze without a second thought, air pollution is neither natural nor benign," he continues. "Even though the absolute cardiovascular risk posed to one individual at any single time point is small, owing to the ubiquitous and constant nature of exposure, particulate matter ranks as the 13th leading cause of global mortality (approximately 800,000 deaths annually)."

Dr. Baccarelli and colleagues have presented evidence of a new category of health risks associated with pollution, he writes. "If future studies corroborate their findings and address some of the limitations, it may be proven that the actual totality of the health burden posed by air pollution, already known to be tremendous, may be even greater than ever anticipated," Dr. Brook concludes.

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ScienceDaily

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ARB Proposes New Rule to Clean Up State Trucks and Buses

Diesel emissions from freeway trucks are major contributors to poor air quality

The Air Resources Board unveiled a revised draft regulation this week that will require retrofits and engine replacements for the estimated privately owned 300,000 diesel trucks and buses transiting California roadways beginning in 2012.

Staff re-worked an earlier version of the draft regulation to eliminate the need for truckers to replace two trucks in a nine-year span, instead relying more heavily on retrofits for the first two years of the regulation. The revised proposal has a lower cost while preserving important public health benefits.

The proposed regulation now calls for truckers to retrofit pre-2007 model year trucks with soot filters and then requires a gradual modernization of trucks beginning in 2012, so that ultimately all trucks are the cleanest, 2010 or newer models.

This draft regulation addresses the largest unregulated source of diesel emissions in the state. Between 2010 and 2020, ARB estimates that the regulation will prevent 11,000 premature deaths associated with exposure to diesel exhaust, and save roughly $500 million in health care costs during that same period.

"If passed by the Board later this year, this regulation will save thousands of lives and help the hundreds of thousands more who suffer from asthma and other respiratory ailments," said ARB Chairman Mary Nichols. "While we are sensitive to the economic impacts this measure poses to truckers, the public health benefits are far too great not to move forward."

This regulation is projected to cost the trucking industry somewhere between $3.6 to $5.5 billion from 2010 to 2021, which ARB staff estimates will add less than a penny apiece to products hauled by these trucks that people buy, ranging from athletic shoes to television sets. ARB is in the midst of allocating $1 billion in Proposition 1B funds, much of which will go toward helping truckers retrofit and replace trucks.

Other entities, including the U.S. EPA and several California ports are offering financial assistance.

Emissions from diesel particulate matter are associated with causing a variety of health effects including premature death and a number of heart and lung diseases. A recent study looking at the health impacts to West Oakland residents posed by diesel emissions estimates the yearly non-cancer health impacts resulting from exposure to port-related diesel particulate matter emissions in the area: 18 premature deaths (age 30 and older), 290 asthma attacks, 2,600 days of work loss, and 15,000 minor restricted activity episodes. Most of the risk comes from diesel particulate matter emissions from trucks traveling on nearby freeways and marine vessel traffic in the San Francisco Bay Area unrelated to the Port of Oakland.

ARB has put in place stringent regulations to curb the health risk to Californians. The most recent adopted regulations to limit diesel emissions affect cargo handling equipment, transport refrigeration units, truck idling, off-road construction equipment, harbor craft, ship auxiliary engines, port drayage trucks and ships-at-berth. Also, the introduction of cleaner fuel for railroads and ships has contributed to lower pollution around the ports and rail yards.

Later this year, ARB will also consider adopting another proposed regulation involving ocean-going vessel main engines to further reduce diesel soot. State control measures will contribute to an approximate decrease of 80 percent in harmful emissions by 2015.

The Air Resources Board is a department of the California Environmental Protection Agency. ARB's mission is to promote and protect public health, welfare, and ecological resources through effective reduction of air pollutants while recognizing and considering effects on the economy. The ARB oversees all air pollution control efforts in California to attain and maintain health based air quality standards.

The energy challenge facing California is real. Every Californian needs to take immediate action to reduce energy consumption. For a list of simple ways you can reduce demand and cut your energy cost, see our web site at http://www.arb.ca.gov/

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How to retrofit with diesel particulate filters

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ARB Proposes to Approve Valley Particulate Matter Plan

Hearing set for May 22 in Fresno

SACRAMENTO - The Air Resources Board released a staff report today that recommends approval of a particulate matter pollution control plan for the San Joaquin Valley that would meet federal health standards on time.

The Board will vote on the staff recommendation -- posted today at http://www.blogger.com/www.arb.ca.gov/planning/sip/sjvpm2.5.htm -- at a hearing in Fresno on May 22. The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District approved the fine particulate matter state implementation plan April 30.

Local measures such as a strengthened residential wood smoke rule and one of the state's toughest regulations on boilers and glass furnaces will combine with ARB's recently passed off-road construction rule and the upcoming proposed truck regulation to allow the Valley to meet federal fine particulate matter standards by 2014. Parts of the Valley already comply with the particulate matter standard, with southern regions suffering from the worst air quality.

"The combined efforts of ARB and the local air district are lowering soot levels in the Valley every year," said ARB Chairman Mary Nichols. "The question we need to ask Valley residents is, have we accounted for every pollution source? Now that this report is out on the street we will be looking for public input and suggestions leading up to the Board vote later this month."

The plan reduces fine particulate matter exposure by lowering oxides of nitrogen emissions by almost 50 percent and fine particulate matter emissions by over 25 percent from 2005 levels. The plan is based on the $27 million "California Regional Particulate Matter Study," which provides the strongest scientific foundation in the nation for a particulate matter plan.

ARB, the Air District and the United States Environmental Protection Agency will participate in a technology forum to be held at University California, Merced on July 9 to explore new advancements that will be needed to obtain future reductions to meet the U.S. EPA's new more stringent standard for which a revised plan will be due in 2012. In the meantime, ARB will continue to help fund pollution-cutting projects in the Valley through Proposition 1B funds.

Fine particulate matter emissions are associated with causing a variety of health effects including premature death and a number of heart and lung diseases.

The Air Resources Board is a department of the California Environmental Protection Agency. ARB's mission is to promote and protect public health, welfare, and ecological resources through effective reduction of air pollutants while recognizing and considering effects on the economy. The ARB oversees all air pollution control efforts in California to attain and maintain health based air quality standards.

The energy challenge facing California is real. Every Californian needs to take immediate action to reduce energy consumption. For a list of simple ways you can reduce demand and cut your energy cost, see our web site at http://www.arb.ca.gov/

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California Air Resources Board

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American Lung Association Issues State of the Air Report

First City Outside California (Pittsburth) Tops One of the Most-Polluted Lists

National Trends Show that Declines in Ozone and Particle Pollution Have Stalled

The American Lung Association issued its annual report card on air pollution today, ranking cities most affected by three types of pollution: short-term particle pollution, year-round particle pollution and ozone pollution. For the first time ever, a city outside California, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, tops one of the most polluted lists in the ninth consecutive American Lung Association State of the Air report.

Pittsburgh moved to the top of the list of cities most polluted by short-term levels of particle pollution, a deadly cocktail of ash, soot, diesel exhaust, chemicals, metals and aerosols that can spike dangerously for hours to weeks on end. The body’s natural defenses, coughing and sneezing, fail to keep these microscopic particles from burrowing deep within the lungs, triggering serious problems such as breathing, asthma and heart attacks, strokes, lung cancer and even early death. Pittsburgh also ranks second on the list of cities with the most year-round particle pollution while Los Angeles again claims the first spot this year.

Los Angeles, despite being ranked atop two of the three most-polluted lists, saw continued improvements in air quality, dropping its year-round particle pollution levels by nearly one-third during the last decade, and saw solid improvement in levels of ozone or “smog,” a gas formed most often when sunlight reacts with vapors emitted when motor vehicles, factories, power plants and other sources burn fuel. Ozone irritates the respiratory tract and causes health problems like asthma attacks, coughing, wheezing, chest pain and even premature death.

“The air quality in several cities has improved, but in others, declines in pollution have stalled. The trends tell us loud and clear that we need to do more to protect Americans from breathing air that’s simply hazardous to their health,” said Bernadette Toomey, President and Chief Executive Officer, American Lung Association. “We applaud the aggressive efforts of Los Angeles to control particle pollution. It’s proof that making a commitment to clean up pays off.”

Several cities across the country lost footing and slipped closer to the top of the list of most ozone-polluted cities, including San Diego, Atlanta, Charlotte and the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. metro area. Birmingham, Alabama, joined the list for the very first time, ranking at number 22 of most ozone-polluted cities, while the five worst cities on this list actually saw modest improvements. Fresno, California, for example, experienced a remarkable decline in the number of high ozone days since its peak in 2001-2003.

Due to the lead time for the State of the Air report, the American Lung Association used the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 1997 standard for ozone levels rather than the new tighter standard announced on March 12, 2008.

“If we were to measure the number of unhealthy days against the new ozone standard, it would show that ozone pollution is worse than the report indicates,” said Ms. Toomey. “Even with these stricter ozone standards, Americans are being denied the health protection they deserve under the Clean Air Act.”

National trends: declines in ozone and particle pollution have stalled.

New this year, the State of the Air report provides online charts showing the trends in ozone and year-round particle pollution in each of the 25 most polluted cities. The ozone charts cover data from 1996 to 2006, while the year-round particle pollution charts show trends from 2000-2006. In addition, the report incorporates the EPA analyses of ozone trend data from 1990 to 2006 and particle pollution trend data for 2000-2006. The State of the Air trend charts and the EPA analyses confirm that air pollution levels dropped in the early years of this century, but have leveled off in the last three years, particularly when controlled for weather.

Other Key Findings of State of the Air 2008:

- One in 10 people in the U.S. live in areas with unhealthful levels of all three types of pollution: ozone, short-term and year-round particle pollution.
- Two of five people in the U.S live in counties that have un­healthful levels of either ozone or particle pollution.
- Nearly one-third of the U.S. population lives in areas with unhealthful levels of ozone.
- Over one quarter of the people in the U.S. live in an area with unhealthful short-term levels of particle pollution.
- One in six people in the U.S. live in an area with unhealthful year-round levels of particle pollution.

The cities identified in the lists below most often include the respective metropolitan areas.

Top Ten U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Short-Term Particle Pollution: 1) Pittsburgh, Pa.; 2) Los Angeles/Long Beach/Riverside, Calif.; 3) Fresno/Madera, Calif.; 4) Bakersfield, Calif.; 5) Birmingham, Ala.; 6) Logan, Utah 7) Salt Lake City, Utah ; 8) Sacramento, Calif.; 9) Detroit, Mich.; 10) Baltimore, Md./Washington, D.C./Northern Virginia.

Top Ten U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Year-Round Particle Pollution: 1) Los Angeles/Long Beach/Riverside, Calif.; 2) Pittsburgh, Pa.; 3) Bakersfield, Calif.; 4) Birmingham, Ala.; 5) Visalia/Porterville, Calif.; 6) Atlanta, Ga.; 7) Cincinnati, Ohio; 8) Fresno/Madera, Calif. 9) Hanford/Corcoran, Calif.; 10) Detroit, Mich.

Top Ten U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Ozone: 1) Los Angeles/Long Beach/Riverside, Calif.; 2) Bakersfield, Calif.; 3) Visalia/Porterville, Calif.; 4) Houston, Texas; 5) Fresno/Madera, Calif. 6) Sacramento, Calif. 7) Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas; 8) New York, N.Y./Newark, N.J.; 9) Baltimore, Md./Washington, D.C./Northern Virginia; 10) Baton Rouge, La.

To see what grade (A to F) your community’s air quality earned, visit the American Lung Association website at http://www.lungusa.org/. Tips are also available on how to protect yourself and your family from air pollution.

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EPA Clears the Air: New Standards Drastically Cut Locomotive and Marine Diesel Pollution

New tough emissions standards will slash pollution from locomotive and marine diesel engines by up to 90 percent, helping Americans to breathe cleaner air as soon as this year.

"Today EPA is fitting another important piece into the clean diesel puzzle by cleaning emissions from our trains and boats," said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. "As more and more goods flow through our ports and railways, EPA is cutting diesel emissions at their source – keeping our nation on track toward a clean, healthy, productive tomorrow."

When fully implemented, these new standards will reduce soot or particulate matter (PM) by 90 percent or 27,000 tons and reduce nitrogen oxides emissions (NOx) by 80 percent or nearly 800,000 tons. Nationwide this regulation will help prevent 1,400 premature deaths, and 120,000 lost workdays annually in 2030. The estimated annual health benefits are valued between $8.4 billion and $12 billion. When these older locomotive and marine engines reach the end of their useful life, and new engines enter into the nation's diesel fleet, the benefits of today's action will increase.

Working in collaboration with our partners and our commitment to clean technology helps make EPA's Clean Diesel Locomotive and Marine program possible. The rule cuts emissions from all types of diesel locomotives, including line-haul, switch, and passenger rail, as well as from a wide range of marine sources, including ferries, tugboats, Great Lake freighters and all types of marine auxiliary engines.

For the first time ever, this rule requires remanufacturing standards for marine engines, reductions in engine idling, and the use of after treatment technology that will further reduce diesel emissions. Phasing in tighter long-term standards for PM and NOx will begin in 2014 for marine diesel engines and in 2015 for locomotive engines. Advanced after-treatment technology will apply to both types of engines. The effective dates for NOx will be two years earlier from last year's proposal, bringing cleaner air sooner.

Today's action is another achievement in EPA's efforts to reduce pollution from diesel engines. This new rule complements the Clean Air Nonroad Diesel Rule and the Clean Air Diesel Truck and Bus Rule, currently underway nationwide.

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Half Measures and Compromises Are Not Good Enough

Statement of Bernadette Toomey, President and Chief Executive Officer
American Lung Association: March 12, 2008

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a critical tightening of the health-based National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone. We wish we could be happier about this decision, but we cannot. The standard announced today, although an improvement, falls far short of the requirements of the Clean Air Act. We are unable to celebrate half measures when the risks are so evident, when the science and the scientists are so united about what is needed and when the missed opportunity means that thousands will suffer more and die sooner than they should. Furthermore, we reject the suggestions made by the Administrator to weaken and undermine the Clean Air Act itself. Coming from the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, such suggestions are truly outrageous.

Certainly, today’s decision on the health-based standard opens a welcome new phase in the attack against the most widespread air pollutant in the nation—and among the most dangerous. A tighter ozone standard sets in motion new steps to clean up air pollution. The ozone standard the EPA adopted strengthens the protection for millions of Americans from the air pollutant often known as smog. Yet, by stopping far short of the mark, the EPA action today denies millions more the protection they deserve from their government.

Ozone smog threatens the health of infants, children, seniors, and people who have asthma, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and other lung diseases. For these people, breathing smog-polluted air can make them cough and wheeze, restrict their airways, worsen their diseases, force them to the hospital and even kill them. Even healthy young adults and people who exercise or work outdoors can suffer from high levels of ozone pollution.

Today’s decision means that millions of Americans will not get the protection that the law requires. According to the nation’s landmark air pollution law, the Clean Air Act, the EPA must set our air quality standards at levels that protect the health of the public, including children, older people, and people who suffer from chronic lung diseases. The EPA’s own expert scientific advisors unanimously recommended a stronger standard that would provide much more protection—advice the Agency ignored. Sixteen major medical societies and public health organizations—including the American Lung Association—repeatedly urged the EPA to follow the overwhelming evidence for a truly protective standard. Our recommendations also went unheeded.

Instead of following the law, the Administrator has proposed, incredibly enough, dismantling the core principles that are embodied in the Clean Air Act—legal requirements that have enabled us to reduce deadly forms of air pollution. The Administrator offers to play “pick your poison” with public health, allowing the state and local governments to determine which pollutants to ignore and which to clean up. The Clean Air Act recognized these pollutants as the national priority because they were the most widespread and dangerous. The Act assigned the EPA Administrator the responsibility to set standards to protect the health of all of the public from these pollutants, not just some people, and required the states and local governments to reduce the burden of all these pollutants, not just some of them. History has shown that when communities pick and chose who gets protected, those left behind, exposed to the worst, are usually the weak, the young, the old and those who face life-threatening disease. The Administrator cannot promote such discrimination.

Basic to those principles is the requirement that the national ambient air quality standards protect public health with an adequate margin of safety. The Supreme Court unanimously confirmed that protecting public health be the sole basis for the Administrator’s decision on a standard. History has shown that principle to be sound. The Administrator proposes to change the Clean Air Act to violate that principle. That is completely unacceptable.

Despite arguments from polluters, thirty years of evidence shows that protecting public health has not harmed the economy—nor is it likely to do so in the future. We would encourage the Administrator to read his own website to see the EPA chart documenting that we’ve been able to cut emissions by half while the economy soared.

Given the real dangers to the most vulnerable members of each of our families, EPA’s decisions today represent a compromise the public can ill afford. The Agency moved closer to the need but not only failed to follow the law, the Agency is now supporting fundamentally weakening the Clean Air Act itself.

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American Lung Association

Lehman Student Receives Award for Research on Asthma in the Bronx

Andrew Maroko, a doctoral student in the Earth and Environmental Science program at the CUNY Graduate Center and Lehman College, received a cash award and a certificate last month for his work on the relationship between pollution and disease in the Bronx. His study shows that more people in the Bronx were exposed to air pollution from major stationary point sources than was previously known.

The award was given at the NOAA-CREST Symposium, held February 20-22 at the University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez. At the symposium, Maroko presented the paper “Loose-coupling an air dispersion model and a geographic information system (GIS): Asthma and air pollution in the Bronx, New York City.” He coauthored the paper with Prof. Juliana Maantay of Lehman’s Environmental, Geographic and Geological Sciences Department and Jun Tu, also a doctoral candidate in the Earth and Environmental Science program.

The paper describes a set of novel procedures for linking a mathematical pollutant dispersion model and a geographical information system, using asthma and air pollution as a case study to illustrate the new method. The findings will enable health researchers, epidemiologists and others to look more realistically at the relationship between pollution and disease.

“I suppose the simplest thing to say is that there is a statistically significant association between estimated exposure to certain locally emitted airborne pollutants and an increased risk of being hospitalized for asthma,” said Maroko.

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CUNY Newswire

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No Time to Idle: Emission and Idling Reduction Technologies for EPA 2010

North American heavy duty truck manufacturers seek to position themselves as global leaders in green technology and as a result market participants have made concerted efforts to develop innovative emission reduction technologies and solutions. Currently, market participants face imminent industry regulations that address issues ranging from diesel engine emissions to idling. The implementation of these regulations will offer market participants an opportunity to leverage their technological innovations by introducing products and solutions that ensure compliance as well as demonstrate a return on investment.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, Strategic Analysis of Emission and Idling Reduction Technologies for EPA 2010 and Idling Regulations Compliance, observes that as global emission regulations tighten in an effort to reduce global warming and fossil fuel reliance, the market for emission and idling reduction technologies will experience considerable growth.

“Stricter environmental regulations, growing generic competition and spiraling R&D costs have caused the North American heavy-duty truck industry to pay closer attention to the impending emission and idling reduction regulations,” notes Frost & Sullivan Program Manager Sandeep Kar.

The implementation of these regulations will incite market participants to offer the most feasible and pertinent emission reduction solutions at attractive price-points. Moreover, escalating fuel efficiency concerns, foreign oil dependency, air quality deterioration, global warming and noise pollution concerns will continue to spur regulations as well as demand for emission reduction technologies.

Regulators and public interest groups scrutinize heavy trucks due to their immense weight, large dimensions, power requirements, emissions and the valuable goods they haul. The current regulatory environment related to emission reduction offers market participants an opportunity to create new revenue streams by developing innovative solutions. These regulations offer opportunities for market participants to develop hardware systems that reduce emissions as well as services and applications that enable regulation compliance monitoring.

However, the high up-front and lifecycle costs of most emission reduction solutions represent major marketing challenges for developers. Moreover, several fleet operators have opted to wait until core and enabling technologies mature before making decisions regarding emission reduction technologies.

“Market participants have to identify and invest in the most pertinent technologies among a vast array of emerging technologies that can facilitate the development of solutions offering sustainable revenue growth opportunities,” says Kar. “The challenge is to not only develop and introduce such technologies and solutions, but also to do so at the lowest incremental cost.”
The current situation demands concerted efforts by all stakeholders to develop standardized technology platforms that can spawn innovative and cost-effective emission reduction solutions. The development and introduction of harmonized engines, aftertreatment systems and idling reduction solutions will likely benefit end users by providing an attractive return on investment for regulatory compliance technologies.

Additionally, industry participants and consumers must act collaboratively to ensure collective action aimed at increasing adoption of emission reduction technologies. Vertical integration activities, such as OEM partnerships for the development and introduction of advanced emission reduction technologies will also increase adoption.

Strategic Analysis of Emission and Idling Reduction Technologies for EPA 2010 and Idling Regulations Compliance, is part of the Automotive & Transportation Growth Partnership Service program, which also includes research in the following markets: heavy truck technologies, advanced automotive technologies, and automotive aftermarket technologies.

See the Source:

Frost & Sullivan

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More on diesel particulate filters for off-road vehicles and stationary engines

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diesel emissions

Air Resources Board Awards $2.2 Million to Investigate Air Qality Isues

State will use information to reduce air pollution

The California Air Resources Board granted $2.2 million to eight university and research institutes that will investigate air pollution emissions, exposures, and health effects.

The $2.2 million is matched by $3.5 million in co-funding from the California Energy Commission, the National Aeronautical and Space Administration, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, and the South Coast Air Quality Management District. The projects will examine various aspects of air pollution including in-vehicle exposures, mechanisms for testing pollutant emissions and the economic effects of cleaning California's air.

"Research projects like these create a map of air pollution in California," said Mary Nichols, Chairman of the Air Resources Board. "They give us targets, tools and strategies for effective and economically sound regulations."

Funds awarded today will go to:
* University of California, Irvine, $500,000: measure and model in-vehicle concentrations of key air pollutants and apply the results to estimate in-transit exposures for a health study of pregnant women and infants;
* Southern Research Institute, $102,722: evaluate instruments that measure real-time particulate matter emissions from a variety of fuels;
* University of California, Riverside, $200,041: improve its environmental chamber used to examine the examine the ozone-forming potential of architectural coatings;
* University of California, Irvine, $400,000: measure greenhouse gas emissions and better understand air pollution formation over California using the NASA DC-8 research aircraft;
* University of Wisconsin-Madison, $409,962: identify the sources that contribute to PM2.5 in the South Coast Angeles Basin;
* West Virginia University, $349,996: building on a prior study of diesel engines, scrutinize the toxicity of particulate matter emissions from heavy-duty compressed natural gas engines with state-of-the-art after-treatment technology;
* Caleb Management Services, Limited, $349,758: for the State's global warming program, quantify the amount and types of greenhouse emissions embedded in foam insulation in California; and,
* Environmental Business International, Inc., $196,211:
define the climate change industry and characterize its current and future status relative to the California economy.

ARB's research program guides and supports clean air efforts by completing its own research and sponsoring research by others.

Information gleaned from research enables ARB to craft regulatory measures with the minimum cost and maximum health-benefits.

Further information on ARB research projects is available here:
http://www.arb.ca.gov/research/rd-ongoing.htm .

Find out:

How to reduce diesel particulate matter on from stationary engines using CARB verified after-treatment technology

air pollution
diesel particulate traps

New Web Multimedia Portal Launched on EPA.gov

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today launched its new web multimedia portal: www.epa.gov/multimedia. The multimedia portal is EPA’s one-stop location for environmental video, audio/podcasts, and photography.

The portal also includes interactive features such as “Ask EPA” and the Deputy Administrator's blog, “Flow of the River”. Another feature called "EPA in Action" goes behind-the-scenes; following the diverse jobs performed by the EPA workforce and examines some of the most pressing environmental issues facing our nation today.

Viewing video is integrated into the site using flash player, while photos of events and EPA work will be posted in a series of online galleries. Users may also subscribe to several podcast series or select from a number of individual podcasts featuring EPA experts and senior officials.

This new multimedia portal is an important resource for the public, journalists, academia, local governments and the environmental community. The portal will help increase awareness of important news items through an intuitive, media-rich focus, rather than through traditional electronic print.

environment

Stanford Scientist Produces First-Ever Study Linking Increased Mortality Specifically to Carbon Dioxide Emissions

A Stanford scientist has spelled out for the first time the direct links between increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and increases in human mortality, using a state-of-the-art computer model of the atmosphere that incorporates scores of physical and chemical environmental processes. The new findings, to be published in Geophysical Research Letters, come to light just after the Environmental Protection Agency's recent ruling against states setting specific emission standards for this greenhouse gas based in part on the lack of data showing the link between carbon dioxide emissions and their health effects.

While it has long been known that carbon dioxide emissions contribute to climate change, the new study details how for each increase of 1 degree Celsius caused by carbon dioxide, the resulting air pollution would lead annually to about a thousand additional deaths and many more cases of respiratory illness and asthma in the United States, according to the paper by Mark Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford. Worldwide, upward of 20,000 air-pollution-related deaths per year per degree Celsius may be due to this greenhouse gas.

"This is a cause and effect relationship, not just a correlation," said Jacobson of his study, which on Dec. 24 was accepted for publication in Geophysical Research Letters. "The study is the first specifically to isolate carbon dioxide's effect from that of other global-warming agents and to find quantitatively that chemical and meteorological changes due to carbon dioxide itself increase mortality due to increased ozone, particles and carcinogens in the air."

Jacobson said that the research has particular implications for California. This study finds that the effects of carbon dioxide's warming are most significant where the pollution is already severe. Given that California is home to six of the 10 U.S. cities with the worst air quality, the state is likely to bear an increasingly disproportionate burden of death if no new restrictions are placed on carbon dioxide emissions.

On Dec. 19, the Environmental Protection Agency denied California and 16 other states a waiver that would have allowed the states to set their own emission standards for carbon dioxide, which are not currently regulated. The EPA denied the waiver partly on the grounds that no special circumstances existed to warrant an exception for the states.

Stephen L. Johnson, the EPA administrator, was widely quoted as saying that California's petition was denied because the state had failed to prove the "extraordinary and compelling conditions" required to qualify for a waiver. While previous published research has focused on the global effect on pollution—but not health—of all the greenhouse gases combined, the EPA noted that, under the Clean Air Act, it has to be shown that there is a reasonable anticipation of a specific pollutant endangering public health in the United States for the agency to regulate that pollutant.

Jacobson's paper offers concrete evidence that California is facing a particularly dire situation if carbon dioxide emissions increase. "With six of the 10 most polluted cities in the nation being in California, that alone creates a special circumstance for the state," he said, explaining that the health-related effects of carbon dioxide emissions are most pronounced in areas that already have significant pollution. As such, increased warming due to carbon dioxide will worsen people's health in those cities at a much faster clip than elsewhere in the nation.

According to Jacobson, more than 30 percent of the 1,000 excess deaths (mean death rate value) due to each degree Celsius increase caused by carbon dioxide occurred in California, which has a population of about 12 percent of the United States. This indicates a much higher effect of carbon-dioxide-induced warming on California health than that of the nation as a whole.
Jacobson added that much of the population of the United States already has been directly affected by climate change through the air they have inhaled over the last few decades and that, of course, the health effects would grow worse if temperatures continue to rise.

Jacobson's work stands apart from previous research in that it uses a computer model of the atmosphere that takes into account many feedbacks between climate change and air pollution not considered in previous studies. Developed by Jacobson over the last 18 years, it is considered by many to be the most complex and complete atmospheric model worldwide. It incorporates principles of gas and particle emissions and transport, gas chemistry, particle production and evolution, ocean processes, soil processes, and the atmospheric effects of rain, winds, sunlight, heat and clouds, among other factors.

For this study, Jacobson used the computer model to determine the amounts of ozone and airborne particles that result from temperature increases caused by increases in carbon dioxide emissions. Ozone causes and worsens respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses, emphysema and asthma, and many published studies have associated increased ozone with higher mortality. "[Ozone] is a very corrosive gas; it erodes rubber and statues," Jacobson said. "It cracks tires. So you can imagine what it does to your lungs in high enough concentrations." Particles are responsible for cardiovascular and respiratory illness and asthma.

Jacobson arrived at his results of the impact of carbon dioxide globally and, at higher resolution, over the United States by modeling the changes that would occur when all current human and natural gas and particle emissions were considered versus considering all such emissions except human-emitted carbon dioxide.

Jacobson simultaneously calculated the effects of increasing temperatures on pollution. He observed two important effects:

- Higher temperatures due to carbon dioxide increased the chemical rate of ozone production in urban areas.
- Increased water vapor due to carbon dioxide-induced higher temperatures boosted chemical ozone production even more in urban areas.

Interestingly, neither effect was so important under the low-pollution conditions typical of rural regions, though other factors, such as higher organic gas emissions from vegetation, affected ozone in low-pollution areas. Higher emissions of organic gases also increased the quantity of particles in the air, as organic gases can chemically react to form particles.

And in general, where there was an increase in water vapor, particles that were present became more deadly, as they swelled from absorption of water. "That added moisture allows other gases to dissolve in the particles—certain acid gases, like nitric acid, sulfuric acid and hydrochloric acid," Jacobson said. That increases the toxicity of the particles, which are already a harmful component of air pollution.

Jacobson also found that air temperatures rose more rapidly due to carbon dioxide than did ground temperatures, changing the vertical temperature profile, which decreased pollution dispersion, thereby concentrating particles near where they formed.

In the final stage of the study, Jacobson used the computer model to factor in the spatially varying population of the United States with the health effects that have been demonstrated to be associated with the aforementioned pollutants.

"The simulations accounted for the changes in ozone and particles through chemistry, transport, clouds, emissions and other processes that affect pollution," Jacobson said. "Carbon dioxide definitely caused these changes, because that was the only input that was varied."

"Ultimately, you inhale a greater abundance of deleterious chemicals due to carbon dioxide and the climate change associated with it, and the link appears quite solid," he said. "The logical next step is to reduce carbon dioxide: That would reduce its warming effect and improve the health of people in the U.S. and around the world who are currently suffering from air pollution health problems associated with it."

See the Source:

Stanford News Source

Ultrafine Particles in Air Pollution May Cause Heart Disease

Patients prone to heart disease may one day be told by physicians to avoid not only fatty foods and smoking but air pollution too.

A new academic study led by UCLA researchers has revealed that the smallest particles from vehicle emissions may be the most damaging components of air pollution in triggering plaque buildup in the arteries, which can lead to heart attack and stroke. The findings appear in the Jan. 17 online edition of the journal Circulation Research.

The scientists identified a way in which pollutant particles may promote hardening of the arteries -- by inactivating the protective qualities of high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, known as "good" cholesterol.

A multicampus team from UCLA, the University of Southern California, the University of California, Irvine, and Michigan State University contributed to the research, which was led by Dr. Andre Nel, UCLA's chief of nanomedicine. The study was primarily funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

"It appears that the smallest air pollutant particles, which are the most abundant in an urban environment, are the most toxic," said first author Dr. Jesus Araujo, assistant professor of medicine and director of environmental cardiology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "This is the first study that demonstrates the ability of nano-sized air pollutants to promote atherosclerosis in an animal model."

Nanoparticles are the size of a virus or molecule -- roughly 0.18 micrometers, or about one-thousandth the size of a human hair. The EPA currently regulates fine particles, which are the next size up, at 2.5 micrometers, but doesn't monitor particles in the nano or ultrafine range. These particles are too small to capture in a filter, so new technology must be developed to track their contribution to adverse health effects.

"We hope our findings offer insight into the impact of nano-sized air pollutant particles and help explore ways for stricter air quality regulatory guidelines," said Nel, principal investigator and a researcher at UCLA's California NanoSystems Institute.

Nel added that the consequences of air pollution on cardiovascular health may be similar to the hazards of secondhand smoke.

Pollution particles emitted by vehicles and other combustion sources contain a high concentration of organic chemicals that could be released deep into the lungs or even spill over into the systemic circulation.

The UCLA research team previously reported that diesel exhaust particles interact with artery-clogging fats in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol to activate genes that cause the blood-vessel inflammation that can lead to heart disease.

In the current study, researchers exposed mice with high cholesterol to one of two sizes of air pollutant particles from downtown Los Angeles freeway emissions and compared them with mice that received filtered air that contained very few particles.

The study, conducted over a five-week period, required a complex exposure design that was developed by teams led by Dr. Michael Kleinman, professor of community and environmental medicine at UC Irvine, and Dr. Constantinos Sioutas, professor of civil and environmental engineering at USC.

Researchers found that mice exposed to ultrafine particles exhibited 55 percent greater atherosclerotic-plaque development than animals breathing filtered air and 25 percent greater plaque development than mice exposed to fine-sized particles.

"This suggests that ultrafine particles are the more toxic air pollutants in promoting events leading to cardiovascular disease," Araujo said.

Pollutant particles are coated in chemicals sensitive to free radicals, which cause the cell and tissue damage known as oxidation. Oxidation leads to the inflammation that causes clogged arteries. Samples from polluted air revealed that ultrafine particles have a larger concentration of these chemicals and a larger surface area where these chemicals thrive, compared with larger particles, Sioutas noted.

"Ultrafine particles may deliver a much higher effective dose of injurious components, compared with larger pollutant particles," Nel said.

Scientists also identified a key mechanism behind how these air pollutants are able to affect the atherosclerotic process. Using a test developed by Dr. Mohamad Navab, study co-author and a UCLA professor of medicine, researchers found that exposure to air pollutant particles reduced the anti-inflammatory protective properties of HDL cholesterol.

"HDL normally helps reduce the vascular inflammation that is part of the atherosclerotic process," said Dr. Jake Lusis, study co-author and a UCLA professor of cardiology, human genetics and microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics. "Surprisingly, we found that exposure to air pollutant particles, and especially the ultrafine size, significantly decreased the positive effects of HDL."

To explore if air particle exposure caused oxidative stress throughout the body - which is an early process triggering the inflammation that causes clogged arteries -- researchers checked for an increase in genes that would have been activated to combat this inflammatory progression.

"We found greater levels of gene activation in mice exposed to ultrafine particles, compared to the other groups," Lusis said. "Our next step will be to develop a biomarker that could enable physicians to assess the degree of cardiovascular damage caused by air pollutants or measure the level of risk encountered by an exposed person."

Researchers added that previous studies assessing the cardiovascular impact of air pollution have taken place over longer periods of exposure time, such as five to six months. The current study demonstrated that ill effects can occur more quickly, in just five weeks.

"Further study will pinpoint critical chemical and toxic properties of ultrafine particles that may affect humans," Nel said.

See the Source:
University of California

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How to decrease diesel particulate pollution using diesel particulate filters.

More Stats on Air Pollution

95% - the amount of carbon monoxide reduced per passenger mile when a person rides a bus rather than driving their own car

36% of man-made mercury emissions found in the atmosphere over America come from Asia

35% of U.S. particulate pollution comes from residential wood burning

25% - the percent of global resources consumed by Americans, who represent only 4 percent of the world population

2% of total global carbon dioxide emissions come from the information and communications sector

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How to reduce carbon monoxide and diesel particulate matter in off-road and stationary engines using diesel particulate filters

air pollution

Survey of Top 10 Ports Urges Action at National Level

Study Ranks U.S. Container Ports Among Nation’s Biggest Polluters, But Movement to Clean Alternative Fuels Gains Momentum

U.S. ports are among the biggest sources of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in their cities, and progress toward reducing harmful emissions has been slow, according to a new research study conducted by Energy Futures, Inc.

Titled “U.S. Container Ports and Air Pollution: a Perfect Storm,” the report on the study presents findings of a 10-month effort in 2007 that assessed air pollution control efforts at America’s top 10 container ports. Study author and Energy Futures President James Cannon made on-site research visits to each of the ports, which together handle about 80 percent of all U.S. imports. Ports included in the study were: Los Angeles, CA; Long Beach, CA; New York and neighboring New Jersey; Oakland, CA; Savannah, GA; Tacoma, WA; Hampton Roads, VA; Seattle, WA; Charleston, SC; and Houston, TX.

Ports pose grave health risks to millions of people living in metropolitan coastal areas, especially those living nearest the ports. “The combination of growing U.S. port activity, the densely populated regions where most ports are located, and the prevailing onshore wind patterns that accumulate rather than disperse port air pollution create a ‘perfect storm’ of threats to public health,” Cannon said.

Cannon explained, “We’ve concluded that the best way to lower air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and diversify fuel supply at U.S. container ports is to use alternative fuels or advanced technologies to replace diesel.” The study found that natural gas is currently the leading alternative fuel for goods movement.

Each step of the goods movement process today — from delivery of goods to ports and from there by truck or rail to U.S. consumers — is powered by diesel fuel. Burning diesel fuel releases health-threatening toxic air contaminants, smog-forming air pollution and climate-changing greenhouse gases.

Container ports are one of the fastest growing business sectors in the U.S., according to Energy Futures. Oceangoing container cargo ships make more than 10,000 visits annually to American ports. Container shipments rose 80 percent in the last decade alone, with nearly 45 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers unloaded or loaded at U.S. marine ports in 2006.

Programs to counteract the pollution problem are progressing now at several of the ports under study, most notably in California, the report indicates. Six projects are currently underway in the state to deploy fleets of natural gas-powered cargo handling vehicles. Efforts to replace diesel fuel with clean-burning liquefied natural gas (LNG) are in process at the three largest container ports in California - Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland.

The Energy Futures report is a call to action at the national level to reduce air pollution at U.S. container ports. Decision makers must develop policies designed to maintain port growth momentum, while preserving public health and environmental quality. “Port air pollution is bad and getting worse,” warns Cannon. A patchwork of local programs, however innovative, cannot equitably finance cleanup efforts or solve this disturbing national problem.

Based on its “Perfect Storm” research findings, Energy Futures has developed policy recommendations as the national debate about how to combat growing air pollution at U.S. ports intensifies.

The report urges decision makers to:
- Promote the use of alternative fuels and advanced technologies to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gases
- Develop and Implement a national port clean-up strategy at the federal government level
- Create a national funding mechanism to finance comprehensive port clean-up
- Advocate global environmental standards in the international arena, and
- Create a global clearinghouse of information about port clean-up efforts.

See the Source:
Energy Futures - U.S. Container Ports and Air Pollution: A Perfect Storm

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How to reduce diesel particulate pollution using diesel particulate filters from CleanAIR Systems

diesel emissions

The Staggering Statistics of Air Pollution

60,000,000 - The number of plastic bottles thrown into U.S. landfills each day. It takes 1.5 million barrels of crude oil each year to produce these bottles - translating into enough fuel to run 100,000 cars for a year.

45,000,000 - The number of barrels of oil saved each year by using public transportation.

6,000,000 - The number of servers found in American data centers, consuming more energy than over 300 million televisions found in American homes.

2,150,000 - The number of barrels of oil saved if 100,000 homes installed eco-friendly geothermal heating systems.

400,000 - The number of Chinese that die prematurely each year from respiratory illnesses and other diseases related to air pollution.

2,000 - The number of coal-fired power plants located in China. (One new power plant goes into operation every 4 to 7 days in China).

13 - The number of pounds a person would lose if they walked one half hour a day instead of riding or driving a motor vehicle. If every US citizen between the ages of 10 to 74 walked this equivalent each day rather than drive, our carbon dioxide emissions would be decreased by 64 million tons.

Find out:

- How to reduce diesel particulate pollution by using diesel particulate filters

- How to get rid of NOx with selective catalytic reduction catalysts

environment
air pollution

Air Pollution May Cause Heart Disease

Patients prone to heart disease may one day be told by physicians to avoid not only fatty foods and smoking but air pollution too.

A new academic study led by UCLA researchers has revealed that the smallest particles from vehicle emissions may be the most damaging components of air pollution in triggering plaque buildup in the arteries, which can lead to heart attack and stroke. The findings appear in the Jan. 17 online edition of the journal Circulation Research.

The scientists identified a way in which pollutant particles may promote hardening of the arteries — by inactivating the protective qualities of high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, known as "good" cholesterol.

A multicampus team from UCLA, the University of Southern California, the University of California, Irvine, and Michigan State University contributed to the research, which was led by Dr. Andre Nel, UCLA's chief of nanomedicine. The study was primarily funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

"It appears that the smallest air pollutant particles, which are the most abundant in an urban environment, are the most toxic," said first author Dr. Jesus Araujo, assistant professor of medicine and director of environmental cardiology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "This is the first study that demonstrates the ability of nano-sized air pollutants to promote atherosclerosis in an animal model."

Nanoparticles are the size of a virus or molecule — less than 0.18 micrometers, or about one-thousandth the size of a human hair. The EPA currently regulates fine particles, which are the next size up, at 2.5 micrometers, but doesn't monitor particles in the nano or ultrafine range.
These particles are too small to capture in a filter, so new technology must be developed to track their contribution to adverse health effects.

"We hope our findings offer insight into the impact of nano-sized air pollutant particles and help explore ways for stricter air quality regulatory guidelines," said Nel, principal investigator and a researcher at UCLA's California NanoSystems Institute.

Nel added that the consequences of air pollution on cardiovascular health may be similar to the hazards of secondhand smoke.

Pollution particles emitted by vehicles and other combustion sources contain a high concentration of organic chemicals that could be released deep into the lungs or even spill over into the systemic circulation.

The UCLA research team previously reported that diesel exhaust particles interact with artery-clogging fats in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol to activate genes that cause the blood-vessel inflammation that can lead to heart disease.

In the current study, researchers exposed mice with high cholesterol to one of two sizes of air pollutant particles from downtown Los Angeles freeway emissions and compared them with mice that received filtered air that contained very few particles.

The study, conducted over a five-week period, required a complex exposure design that was developed by teams led by Dr. Michael Kleinman, professor of community and environmental medicine at UC Irvine, and Dr. Constantinos Sioutas, professor of civil and environmental engineering at USC.

Researchers found that mice exposed to ultrafine particles exhibited 55 percent greater atherosclerotic-plaque development than animals breathing filtered air and 25 percent greater plaque development than mice exposed to fine-sized particles.

"This suggests that ultrafine particles are the more toxic air pollutants in promoting events leading to cardiovascular disease," Araujo said.

Pollutant particles are coated in chemicals sensitive to free radicals, which cause the cell and tissue damage known as oxidation. Oxidation leads to the inflammation that causes clogged arteries. Samples from polluted air revealed that ultrafine particles have a larger concentration of these chemicals and a larger surface area where these chemicals thrive, compared with larger particles, Sioutas noted.

"Ultrafine particles may deliver a much higher effective dose of injurious components, compared with larger pollutant particles," Nel said.

Scientists also identified a key mechanism behind how these air pollutants are able to affect the atherosclerotic process. Using a test developed by Dr. Mohamad Navab, study co-author and a UCLA professor of medicine, researchers found that exposure to air pollutant particles reduced the anti-inflammatory protective properties of HDL cholesterol.

"HDL normally helps reduce the vascular inflammation that is part of the atherosclerotic process," said Dr. Jake Lusis, study co-author and a UCLA professor of cardiology, human genetics and microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics. "Surprisingly, we found that exposure to air pollutant particles, and especially the ultrafine size, significantly decreased the positive effects of HDL."

To explore if air particle exposure caused oxidative stress throughout the body — which is an early process triggering the inflammation that causes clogged arteries — researchers checked for an increase in genes that would have been activated to combat this inflammatory progression.

"We found greater levels of gene activation in mice exposed to ultrafine particles, compared to the other groups," Lusis said. "Our next step will be to develop a biomarker that could enable physicians to assess the degree of cardiovascular damage caused by air pollutants or measure the level of risk encountered by an exposed person."

Researchers added that previous studies assessing the cardiovascular impact of air pollution have taken place over longer periods of exposure time, such as five to six months. The current study demonstrated that ill effects can occur more quickly, in just five weeks.

"Further study will pinpoint critical chemical and toxic properties of ultrafine particles that may affect humans," Nel said.

See the Source:
UCLA

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About diesel particulate filters to reduce particle pollution

particle pollution
diesel pollution

California to Retrofit 1,000 Old, Polluting Trucks

California Air Resources Board staff is proposing that $25 million in Proposition 1B Bond funding go to diesel emission reduction projects for the South Coast, Central Valley, San Francisco and San Diego air districts, mostly for truck retrofit and replacements. These recommendations will be before the entire Board for approval at a January hearing in Sacramento.

ARB also announced that it plans to allocate more than 75 percent of the overall $1 billion in Bond 1B funding to be used toward reducing diesel pollution from trucks associated with goods movement around the state. The remaining 24 percent of funding, $240 million, will be earmarked for diesel emission reductions from ships, harbor craft and locomotives.

"This strategy puts the lion's share of the dollars where they're needed most: on trucks traveling from the state's ports and along our major transportation corridors," said ARB Chairman Mary Nichols. "Within months of passing a new regulation aimed at cleaning up port trucks we are following through with much-needed funding to help drivers retrofit and replace older, dirty engines."

If approved by the Board at its Jan. 24 hearing in Sacramento, ARB staff will begin allocating the funds immediately to the air districts.

ARB staff is basing its proposed distribution of funds to specific air district projects using three criteria: population, the contribution of emissions from goods movement sources, and the need for new emission reductions to meet federal health standards. Staff also leaned heavily toward projects that would have benefits statewide. Thus, trucks traveling from the Los Angeles ports to the Inland Empire, highways 5 and 99 in the Central Valley, the San Francisco Bay Area, and the San Diego border region will achieve emission benefits far beyond their home of origin.

Proposition 1B was the transportation bond put on the ballot by the Legislature and before the voters in November 2006. The 2007-08 Budget, signed by Governor Schwarzenegger in August, funds the initial $250 million of the $1 billion set aside for air quality improvement projects in Proposition 1B.

The Board is focused on funding projects that reduce emissions and health risk, incorporate simplicity and efficiency, ensure cost-effectiveness, and leverage other funding source. Go to http://www.blogger.com/www.arb.ca.gov for application criteria.

ARB has recently passed a series of measures that focus on reducing diesel emissions from trucks and ships, with more on the way in 2008. Much of these regulations require engine replacements and retrofits that 1B funding can help in terms of early compliance, such as the regulation aimed at cleaning up the state's 20,000 port, or "drayage" trucks. ARB estimates that this regulation alone will prevent 1,200 premature deaths from 2009 through 2020, with benefits being the most dramatic in the communities where port trucks are heavily concentrated.

See the Source:
California Air Resources Board

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About diesel particulate filters for truck retrofits

air pollution
diesel emissions

EPA Widens Window on Regulatory Process

EPA is sharing more information about ways the public can get involved in environmental regulation.

The agency has added new features to one of its most popular Web sites for environmental regulatory information. This site – titled "Laws, Regulations, Guidance and Dockets" - is often the public's first exposure to EPA's regulatory activities. Its user-friendliness has been enhanced with easily accessible ways to search and comment on EPA regulations and significant guidance documents, and to learn how environmental regulations are written. The site also includes new sections for finding regulations and related documents, plus regulatory history, statutory authority, supporting analyses, compliance information, and guidance for implementation. Also, for the first time, searches for regulatory information can be conducted by environmental topics, such as water or air, or by business sectors, such as transportation or construction.

The new site is easily accessible from EPA's homepage and can be found by choosing "Laws, Regulations, Guidance & Dockets" from the left-hand navigation bar at www.epa.gov/lawsregs/

air pollution
emission standards

German Cities Designate Environmental Zones

In an attempt to cut air pollution emissions, new environmental zones went into effect on Jan. 1 in three German cities, Berlin, Cologne and Hannover. An environmental sticker is being issued in three colors - red, yellow and green, for vehicles that meet specific environmental requirements. Between Jan. 1, 2008 to Jan. 1, 2010 all vehicles displaying a sticker will be allowed into designated environmental zones within the cities. Vehicles with no sticker will not be able to drive into these zones. After 2010, only vehicles with a green sticker (meeting Pollutant Class 4) will be allowed within the zones.

See the Source:
Law Pundit

air pollution
environmental news

Long Beach Clean Air Cargo Fee to Raise $1.6 Billion

Starting in June, the Port of Long Beach has decided to charge shipping containers going in and out of the port a $35 fee to cover the cost of emissions control for port drayage trucks. It is expected that the fee will raise $1.6 billion. Port trucks should meet Clean Air Action Plan requirements by 2012. In order to further cut air pollution, last month the Port of Long Beach approved a ban on pre-1989 "dirty trucks." The ban will be phased in by October 2008. After that date no trucks manufactured before 1989 will be allowed to operate at the port.

See the Source:
Purchase.com

Find out:
How to reduce diesel particulate matter with diesel particulate filters.

air pollution

EPA Awards Community Grants Across Country

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that around $3 million will be available in 2008 to support community-based partnerships to reduce pollution at the local level through the Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) program.

EPA anticipates awarding CARE cooperative agreements in two levels. Level I cooperative agreements range from $75,000 to $100,000 and will help establish community-based partnerships to develop local environmental priorities. Level II awards, ranging from $150,000 to $300,000 each, will support communities which have established broad-based partnerships, have identified the priority toxic risks in the community, and are prepared to measure results, implement risk reduction activities, and become self-sustaining. In 2007, $3.4 million in cooperative agreements were made available to more than 20 communities through the CARE program, a community-based, community-driven program that builds partnerships to help the public understand and reduce toxic risks from numerous sources. Examples of projects include addressing abandoned, contaminated industrial and residential properties in Gary, Ind., dealing with agriculture-related toxics in Yakima County, Wash., and reducing air emissions from diesel trucks and buses in Woonsocket, R.I. Since 2005, the grants to reduce toxics in the environment have reached almost 50 communities in over 20 states.

Applications for the CARE grants are due March 17, 2008. Eligible applicants include county and local governments, tribes, non-profit organizations and universities. EPA will conduct three conference calls, Jan. 18, Feb. 11 and 27, for prospective applicants to ask questions about the application process.

See the Source:
EPA - info on CARE program, previous recipients, applying for 2008 grants

air pollution
environmental news

Olympic Events May Be Reschduled Due to Pollution

Reuters reported on Tuesday that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has decide to reschedule some events at the Beijing Games if it finds the level of air pollution to be a health threat to athletes. The decision to reschedule will be decided just before or even during the Games.

The IOC is currently analysing recent air quality reports sent by Beijing. Efforts to decrease air pollution in the Chinese city have included a trial test held last summer that took 1.3 million cars off of the road, plus the shut down of high-emission plants. Experts have called the plan unscientific.

See the Source:

Guardian Unlimited

air pollution
Beijing Olympics

Asian Dust Particles Over Western U.S.

It has been a decade since University of Washington scientists first pinpointed specific instances of air pollution, including Gobi Desert dust, traversing the Pacific Ocean and adding to the mix of atmospheric pollution already present along the West Coast of North America.

Now a UW researcher is finding that dust from the Gobi and Taklimakan deserts in China and Mongolia is routinely present in the air over the western United States during spring months.

"We are interested in Asian dust that comes across the Pacific because particles can have an impact on health, as well as on visibility," said Emily Fischer, a UW doctoral student in atmospheric sciences.

"Most previous work has been very event specific, but this research looks at how the average background aerosol concentrations vary on a year-to-year basis."

Aerosols are tiny particles – such as dust, grains of sea salt, soot from fossil fuel combustion and smoke from forest fires – suspended in the air. Many of the aerosols are comparatively large, as much as 10 microns, which still is less than the width of a human hair.

Fischer found that in years with large Asian dust storms there was an increase in particles of 2.5 microns or less in the air over the western United States. Particles that small can be inhaled more deeply into the lungs and so are a greater health concern.

"Local pollution makes the biggest contribution to poor air quality in cities, but my study is looking at aerosols in remote regions like national parks," she said. "In these places dust can be a larger contributor to the total aerosol concentrations because there is little local pollution. While some of the dust pulses from Asia are small, some of them can be very large."

Fischer used two sets of data, gathered during March, April and May from 1998 through 2006, to correlate the dust kicked up in storms over Asian deserts and the appearance of dust in air over the western United States. She looked at dust levels in the air columns directly over the deserts, recorded by NASA satellites, and then paired that information with air quality data from ground stations in rural areas of the western United States for the same period.

The research is being presented at this year's annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.

For the dust detected at ground stations in the United States, Fischer also looked for – and found – evidence of calcium, which is a tracer for desert dust.

"The calcium lends more confidence to our conclusion," she said.

While the results of the research are not unexpected, they provide supporting evidence that particles of 2.5 microns or smaller appear in higher concentrations in the western United States in years when there are high dust concentrations over Asian deserts.

"The transport of dust across the Pacific is not a new phenomenon," Fischer said. "But we are just beginning to understand it and quantify it on a year-to-year basis instead of on a case-by-case basis.

"We know that just having dust over Asia doesn't mean that it's going to come here. There is the transportation part of the puzzle, which I'm working on now. But we already know that some years are more favorable than others for dust to be transported across the Pacific."

See the Source:

Newswise

Find out:

How to eliminate particulate matter from diesel emissions with diesel particulate filters.

air pollution
particulate matter

What's EPA Chief Stephen Johnson Doing in China?

Visit EPA's Trip Diary from China to view daily updates from Administrator Johnson and his staff on their trip to China for the U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue. From Dec. 10 to 15, 2007, EPA's official delegation will give a first-hand account of their trip through photos and diary entries which will be posted 2-3 times per day on EPA's Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/chinadiary

This diary will be an account of the official EPA delegation's visit to China and the agency's efforts to foster global environmental cooperation through the SED. Administrator Johnson will join Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and other senior U.S. officials for the third cabinet level meeting of the SED.

This meeting will focus on integrity of trade, balanced economic development, energy conservation, financial sector reform, environmental sustainability, and advancing bilateral investment. The dialogue was launched by President Bush and President Hu in September 2006.

Real-World Studies Show Air Pollution Lowers Lung Function

Two real-world studies recently reported in the New England Journal of Medicine show that increased exposure to traffic heavy with diesel exhaust has a measurable effect on lung capacity.

The Swiss study conducted over an 11-year period showed that breathing cleaner air resulting from a cut in air pollution through the enforcement of stricter environmental laws, added an extra year of healthy breathing to test subjects. The London study examined 60 asthmatic adults as they took 2-hour walks. The subjects walked along a busy London street filled with exhaust or in a traffic-free park. Lung function decreased by 5-6 percent after being exposed to traffic emissions.

It appears from the studies that a decrease in exposure to particulate matter, a component of diesel exhaust, and breathing cleaner air reduces the aging affect on the lungs.

See the Source:

The China Post

U.S. News & World Report

Find out:

Find out how to reduce diesel particulate emissions by retrofitting with diesel particulate filters.

diesel emissions
air pollution

EPA Seeks Early Input on Standards for Airborne Lead

EPA is seeking early comments on policy options the agency is considering as it reviews the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for lead.

The United States has made tremendous progress in reducing lead concentrations in the outdoor air. Average lead concentrations in the air have dropped a dramatic 96 percent since 1980, primarily as a result of the ban on lead in motor vehicle gasoline. Also, since the late 1970s, blood lead concentrations for children ages one to five have dropped significantly, from about 15 micrograms per deciliter (:g/dL) to less than 2 :g/dL.

EPA has released an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR). It is not a proposal, but a new part of the NAAQS review process that offers an additional public comment period before the agency issues a proposed rule.

EPA is seeking broad public input on the policy options under consideration as part of the lead NAAQS review. For example, the ANPR seeks comment on available scientific information, on current lead exposures for both airborne sources and other sources, and on a number of lead monitoring issues. That input will help inform the agency as it develops a proposed rule.

EPA will accept comment on the ANPR for 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.

EPA is required by a consent decree to issue a proposal regarding the lead standards by May 1, 2008, and to issue a final rule by Sept. 1, 2008.

More about the lead NAAQS rulemaking: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/pb/s_pb_cr_fr.html

air pollution

New Mexico Leads the Fight Against Global Warming with Clean Car Program

New Mexico has become the first Intermountain state to implement the Clean Car program after the state's Environmental Improvement Board voted on November 27th to approve the regulations addressing climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from cars.

The program goes into effective Jan. 1, 2008, requiring car manufacturers to sell and lease vehicles that meet the standards beginning with model year 2011. The program only applies to new vehicles and will not affect new or used cars sold before that model year.

“The Clean Cars Program is a key part of our state’s effort to reduce global warming emissions to the levels necessary to avoid the worst effects of a warming planet,” said Governor Richardson. “Today’s decision by the Environmental Improvement Board means New Mexico can implement the cleanest standards for vehicle emissions in the country. New Mexico is again taking action, when Washington won’t.”

“New Mexico is taking deliberate steps to protect the environment from the effects of global warming for future generations because the EPA has failed to do so,” Governor Richardson said. “I believe other intermountain states will take New Mexico’s lead and implement the program as well. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from cars and demanding vehicles with a cleaner carbon footprint will help states reverse the effects of global warming – one of the most important issues of our time.”

“The Clean Car standard will help protect our state from the effects of climate change, including public health concerns, increasing temperatures and lessening snow pack and stream flows.” said New Mexico Environment Department Secretary Ron Curry. “Under Governor Richardson's administration, we will continue to fight to make New Mexico a role model in combating climate change. The Clean Car program is a major step forward that will improve our air quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lessen our dependence on foreign oil.”

The program requires reductions in tailpipe emissions to reduce air pollution, overall reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles sold in the state and sales of some Zero Emission Vehicles in the state. The program regulates emissions of non-methane organic gases, carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter and greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and air conditioning refrigerants. Under the program, consumers will be able to purchase the same cars and light trucks but those vehicles will be manufactured slightly differently to reduce air pollution from the vehicle’s tailpipe and gain greater fuel economy. Studies of the program show that upfront costs for clean cars are more than made up for in fuel efficiency.

"The Clean Car Program now has a foothold across the nation," said Environmental Improvement Board Chairwoman Gay Dillingham. "This is a tremendous opportunity for our country and American manufacturers to take back the lead in environmental protection and innovation reminiscent of the 1970s when Congress passed the Clean Air Act and car production and sales in this nation were at historic highs. I applaud the Governor’s visionary leadership on global warming as exemplified by the clean car regulations. From the testimony in this hearing I can say the American people are overwhelmingly asking for this leadership and these regulations.”

The Climate Change Advisory Group -- including representatives from various industries, oil and gas companies, utilities, environmentalists, the labs, universities and local governments -- recommended the program as one of the most affordable ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in New Mexico. The Governor then directed the department to present a proposal to adopt the California Clean Car standard to the EIB before the end of the year. The Clean Air Act requires that manufacturers have a two year lead time before implementing the rule. The rule will be effective January 1, 2008 and with the required lead time, will be fully implemented in model year 2011. That model year is the same as calendar year 2010.

Transportation, which accounts for about 17 percent of New Mexico’s greenhouse gas emissions, is the third largest and fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in the state. In adopting the program, New Mexico joins 11 other states representing more than 35 percent of the American population — about 104 million people and about 78 million potential car buyers.

In the Four Corners region, Arizona and Utah are also committed to adopt those standards and Colorado is considering it. Under Governor Richardson’s administration, New Mexico also joined nine states and provinces in the Western Climate Initiative, which commits those states to Clean Cars as part of a collaborative regional effort.

Governor Richardson recently joined 13 governors in calling on automobile manufacturers to produce cars with a cleaner carbon footprint, withdraw legal challenges to clean vehicle standards, and begin working with the states to reverse the threat of global warming. New Mexico was also the first state in the nation to join the Chicago Climate Exchange and the first major energy state to fight climate change.

See the Source:

New Mexico Environment Department

Find out:

About CleanAIR Systems, an emissions control manufacturer based in New Mexico.

global-warming

emission standards

Air Pollution Facts: Current Stats from the News

1. Iowa’s Clear the Air (a coalition of organizations fighting global warming) reports the following Iowa state statistics according to data collected by consultants for the EPA:
- 323 annual deaths attributed to fine particle pollution from power plants
- 40,988 lost work days
- 333 hospitalzations
- 7,322 asthma attacks

2. The Senate has recently passed a bill that will require car owners to buy:
- 36 billion gallons of ethanol by 2022

But Nobel Prize recipient, Paul Crutzen, warns that intensive cultivation of biofuels could actually increase the greenhouse effect up to 70% MORE than burning fossil fuels. According to Crutzen, a byproduct of fertilizer used in growing biofuels is nitrous oxide. This greenhouse gas has almost 300 times the heat-trapping properties of CO2 (one of the most common greenhouse gases produced by burning fossil fuels).

3. Levels of ozone and particulate matter in Europe have not improved since 1997, despite significant reductions in pollutants from emissions.

4. Global energy demands will rise by 50% by the year 2030, from 85 millions barrels of oil a day to 116 million barrels a day, according to the International Energy Agency. Almost half of the increase in demand will be attributed to China and India.

5. Sea level is projected to rise 1 to 3 feet within the next 100 years due to global warming and climate change.

6. To date, the US Congress has not passed a single bill to cap and reduce global warming pollution in the United State’s.

7. In California alone, 28,000 tons of particulate matter are emitted annually from diesel-fueled vehicles and engines. This includes 1 million+ on- and off-road vehicles, 16,000 stationary engines, and approximately 50,000 portable engines.

8. Due to smog and particulate matter, India is now receiving less sunlight than it did 20 years ago.

9. Air pollution is costing China 3.8 percent of its gross domestic product, with particulate matter becoming a major health threat.

10. China’s combined health and non-health cost of outdoor air pollution and water pollution is about 100 billion U.S. dollars annually according to the World Bank.

Find out:

How to cut emissions of particulate matter from diesel on- and off-road vehicles, as well as stationary engines by using diesel particulate filters from CleanAIR Systems.

air pollution
diesel emissions

Dangerous Ferry Emissions in California

This photo is of a California ferry service taken by a citizen reporter and posted on Flickr with her comments. Diesel ferries and other harbor craft emit dangerous particulate matter (black soot) that can cause serious health problems such as lung impairment, heart attacks and even premature death.

Here are a few statistics just posted by the California Air Resources Board:
- 3 tons of diesel soot and 73 tons of NOx: the amount of pollutants emitted daily from California harbor craft
- 4,200: an estimate of how many harbor craft vessels operate in California
- 600: number of CA ferries, excursion vessels, tugboats and towboats that require emissions reduction under a new ARB ruling to cut emissions by 50% by 2015

Thank you to Luxomdedia for providing the photo for this post. Here are her comments:
A plume of deadly diesel exhaust pours from the Blue and Gold Fleet Ferry service to Oakland Alameda. They do not use diesel particulate filters and the ferry manager said they do not have any plans to install them. An average of 900 people ride the ferry every day, including school children. The people who work on the ferry get the most exposure to it.

The company received roughly $1.5 million in Carl Moyer grant funding from Bay Area Air-Quality Management in 2006, including $677,531 for this vessel to be upgraded. They also raised their ticket prices for capital improvements. It seems that the vessel just "goes in for service" often, but no long-term air quality improvements are made. I usually enjoy riding the ferry, and the service and people who work there are great, but what's the point when you can't breathe fresh air? What is also concerning is that B&G claim to be clean, green and environmentally sound. I don't see any "green waves" here, do you? I am looking forward to when this is really a clean, green commute. Until then, I think I WILL hold my breath.

Check out the California Air Resources Board, and the Clean Air Task Force public health information about Diesel Exhaust, which causes cancer and other health problems contributing to thousands of premature deaths per year.

See the Source:
Luxomedia on Flickr

Find out:
About diesel particulate filters that can be used to retrofit ferries, reducing diesel particulate matter by more than 85%.

air pollution
diesel emissions

ARB Approves Measures to Reduce Pollution from Commercial Harbor Craft

New regulation expected to cut emissions by 50 percent by 2015

The Air Resources Board today approved a measure designed to reduce harmful emissions from commercial ferries, excursion vessels such as dinner cruises and tour boats, tugs and towboats in California waters as much as 50 percent by 2015.

With this rule in place, ARB expects emissions of diesel soot and oxides of nitrogen, and their negative health impacts, to be reduced by 40-50 percent by 2015, and 60-70 percent by 2025, compared to 2004 levels. The new measure for commercial harbor craft does not include recreational or ocean-going vessels.

"Today's Board action brings new protection to the thousands of Californians who live and work in port communities," said ARB Chair Mary Nichols. "While harbor craft play a vital role at our ports and along our coast, they also contribute significantly to air emissions most responsible for premature death, respiratory illnesses, and increased risk of heart disease. With today's vote, ARB is now regulating yet another diesel source that has fouled California's air for years."

Roughly 3 tons of diesel soot and 73 tons of NOx are emitted from commercial harbor craft engines daily. A recent ARB study revealed that, for the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, commercial harbor craft is the third highest source of diesel soot emissions contributing to cancer risk at the ports.

Statewide, approximately 90 premature deaths per year are associated with emissions from commercial harbor craft.

Currently, about 80 percent of all harbor craft engines in California are unregulated. The new regulation requires these dirty, older engines currently in use on ferries, excursion vessels, tugboats, and towboats to be replaced with newer, cleaner engines meeting more stringent U.S. EPA marine engine standards. Replacements are to be phased in starting in 2009, with the oldest, highest-use engines to be replaced first. In addition, commercial harbor craft operating in the South Coast area are required to replace their engines on an accelerated schedule, in order to help meet federally mandated air quality deadlines.

The regulation exempts certain existing harbor craft from the engine replacement requirements of the regulation such as fishing boats, crew and supply boats, pilot boats, and work boats, such as those operated by police and fire departments and other government entities. However, all new harbor craft, including these vessels, are regulated under this measure and must use the cleanest available marine engines. Similarly, replacement engines on all existing harbor craft will need to be the cleanest available.

The ARB estimates that there are about 4,200 harbor craft vessels and 8,300 harbor craft engines currently in use in California, with each vessel typically having more than one engine. Of these, there are nearly 600 ferries, excursion vessels, tugboats, and towboats equipped with about 1,900 propulsion and auxiliary engines that will be subject to this regulation. While these represent only 15 percent of the vessels (25 percent of the engines), they generate about 50 percent of the emissions. Additionally, most of their emissions are generated within the harbor or close to shore and thus have the greatest impact on adjacent communities. About 40 percent of these vessels are in the Bay Area, while 30 percent service the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The remainder are scattered throughout the State.

Over the past two years, ARB has addressed the problem of poor air quality at the ports from several different angles, adopting measures that reduce emissions from cargo handling equipment, require use of cleaner fuel in auxiliary ship engines, and limit onboard ship incineration. In December, ARB will consider two more regulations, including a measure to provide alternative power supplies at ports so that ships can avoid using diesel power while at dock, and a rule requiring retrofit or replacement of older heavy-duty diesel trucks that service ports.

Source:
California Air Resources Board

Find out:
How diesel particulate filters can reduce diesel emissions from ferries by greater than 85%.

air pollution

10 Pollution Fast Facts: Statistics to Make You Think

The staff at CleanAIR Systems keeps track of all kinds of air pollution statics and facts reported from recent environmental studies. Here's a selection of recent air pollution information:

1. During winter months, 49 percent of soot and other particle pollution in Sacramento is caused by burning wood in fireplaces and wood stoves.

2. According to the World Health Organization, if you are one of the 18 million residents of Cairo:
- Breathing daily air pollution is like smoking 20 cigarettes a day
- You take in over 20 times the acceptable level of air pollution each day

3. The World Bank reported in 2002 that pollution causes 2.42 billion dollars worth of damage to the Egyptian environment annually - equaling about 5 percent of the country’s annual gross domestic product.

4. The risk of cancer from breathing diesel exhaust is about ten times more than ingesting all other toxic air pollutants combined, with diesel emissions contributing to over 70% of the cancer risk from air pollution in the USA. – reported by Environmental Defense

5. The Boston area ranks number 5 in the country for premature deaths due to diesel pollution annually. – reported by the Clean Air Task Force

In the state of Massachusetts alone, diesel emissions are responsible for the following annual statistics:
- 450 premature deaths
- 700 non-fatal heart attacks
- 9,900 asthma attacks
- 13,000 respirator symptoms in children
- 60,000 work loss days

6. According to Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global Ecology, carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) is rising at an alarming rate. During the 1990s, carbon dioxide emissions increased approximately 1.3% each year. But since 2000, the rate has increased to 3.3% per year, with an estimated annual global CO2 emissions increase of 35% from 1990 to 2006.

7. A recent study from Toronto Public Health estimates over 440 deaths a year in the Canadian city can be directly attributed to traffic emissions.

8. The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have:
- Contributed 25% of the total diesel particulate emissions in the Los Angeles Basin.
- Added more NOx emissions to the atmosphere than all of the 6 million cars operating in this area of California.
- Have not complete an environment impact report for infrastructure improvement projects in six years.

9. Emissions from ocean-going ships contribute to approximately 60,000 deaths each year, mostly from heart and lung-related cancers. Shanghai, Singapore and Hong Kong rank within the world’s top 5 busiest ports, and experience a higher impact from emissions-related health issues.

10. According to the US-EPA, emissions from power plants contribute to over 2,800 lung cancer deaths and 38,200 heart attacks annually in the US.

Find out:

About reducing air pollution using diesel particulate filters, diesel oxiation converters and selective catalytic reduction.

air pollution
particle pollution

ARB Credits Local Air District for Stationary Source Program Improvements

Regulators now must tackle land use, trucks, agricultural equipment and promote new technologies

SACRAMENTO – The California Air Resources Board issued a report today that concluded the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District has improved significantly over the past several years and now regulates all stationary sources of pollution that fall under its purview.

ARB staff conducted the analysis after being directed by the Board in June to work with stakeholders via the San Joaquin Valley Air Quality Task Force to identify new measures that could be undertaken to clean up Valley smog sooner. ARB staff has since met with the task force five times throughout the Valley and held three community meetings to solicit additional input from residents.

"We have a typical good news/bad news story here: the good news is that the local air district is doing its part to regulate local pollution sources. The bad news is that the remaining areas still needing some work – trucks, agricultural equipment and suburban sprawl – will be thorny issues with no real easy answers," said ARB Chairman Mary Nichols. "ARB can commit to reducing emissions from agricultural equipment and trucks but local officials need to take charge of their growth. We owe it to Central Valley residents to continue to search for solutions to clean up their air."

Last month, ARB committed to actions that would take the Valley 90 percent of the way to attainment with federal ozone standards by 2018. The state improved earlier attainment plans by adopting a new regulation for off-road construction equipment that the local air district can tailor for its needs, as well as proposing other new measures for trucks and agricultural equipment that will help clean the Valley’s air. To close the final 10 percent gap, regulators will need to look into ways to reduce pollution from agricultural operations and via local land use planning efforts.

The Air Resources Board will consider a proposal to regulate farm equipment such as tractors and combines in 2009. In the meantime, the Board is requesting the local air district to work with the Valley’s Councils of Governments to devise a strategy that addresses pollution from sprawl that leads to increased miles travelled and overall sustainability.

Finally, ARB staff outlined recommendations for the San Joaquin Valley Air District, which included among others, to raise its cost-effectiveness thresholds for Best Available Control Technology for new sources to be in line with other air districts, to widen its search for cutting-edge technologies by looking beyond the Valley for innovative technology applications, and to continue its local task force with expanded purview to add industrial as well as mobile sources.

ARB and local air district staff are working with the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency to hold a technology forum at UC Merced next spring since emerging environmental innovations will also play a key role in reducing local pollution in the coming years.

The Air Resources Board will hear today’s staff report and recommendations at next week’s hearing in Sacramento.

See the Source:
ARB's staff report: Accelerating San Joaguin Valley Air Quality Progress

Find out:
How to reduce emissions of particulate matter from stationary engines by more than 85%

air pollution

Spending Time in Your Car Increases Pollution Exposure

The daily commute may be taking more of a toll than people realize. A new study by researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) and the California Air Resources Board found that up to half of Los Angeles residents’ total exposure to harmful air pollutants occurs while people are traveling in their vehicles.

Although the average Los Angeles driver spends about six percent (1.5 hours) of his or her day on the road, that period of time accounts for 33 to 45 percent of total exposure to diesel and ultrafine particles (UFP), according to the study published this month in the journal Atmospheric Environment and available online. On freeways, diesel-fueled trucks are the source of the highest concentrations of harmful pollutants.

“If you have otherwise healthy habits and don’t smoke, driving to work is probably the most unhealthy part of your day,” says Scott Fruin, D.Env., assistant professor of environmental health at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. “Urban dwellers with long commutes are probably getting most of their UFP exposure while driving.”

High air exchange rates that occur when a vehicle is moving make roadways a major source of exposure. Ultrafine particles are of particular concern because, unlike larger particles, they can penetrate cell walls and disperse throughout the body, Fruin says. Particulate matter has been linked to cardiovascular disease, but the ultrafine fraction on roadways appears to be more toxic than larger sizes.

Researchers measured exposure by outfitting an electric vehicle with nine, fast-response air pollution instruments. A video recorded surrounding traffic and driving conditions on freeways and arterial roads throughout the Los Angeles region. Measurements were collected during a three-month period from February to April 2003, and four typical days were selected for a second-by-second video and statistical analysis.

Results showed that the two main sources of pollution were diesel-fueled trucks on freeways and hard accelerations on surface streets. Surprisingly, overall congestion was only a factor on arterial roads and, even then, the highest concentrations of pollutants occurred only when vehicles were accelerating from a stop, Fruin says.

“This study was the first to look at the effect of driving and traffic conditions at this level of detail and to demonstrate the specific factors leading to the highest pollutant exposures for drivers,” Fruin says. “The extent that a specific type of vehicle—diesel trucks—dominated the highest concentration conditions on freeways was unexpected.”

Driving with the windows closed and recirculating air settings can modestly reduce the particle pollution exposures but does not reduce most gaseous pollutants. Driving at speeds lower than 20 miles-per-hour can also reduce exposure, but none of these measures are as effective as simply cutting back on driving time, he says.

“Shortening your commute and spending less time in the car will significantly reduce your total body burden of harmful pollutants,” Fruin says.

Off-road transportation such as taking the train will have a significant impact. Biking or walking are alternatives that also provide valuable health benefits from exercise, he says.

See the Source:
USC

Find out:
How to reduce diesel particulate emissions for on- and off-road vehicles using diesel particulate filters.

air pollution
diesel emissions