Air Quality Lab
Group: Arvind, Ian, Michael
Introduction:
The problem of air quality has become a huge concern for the world population. Humans did not see a problem until the production of motor vehicles sky rocketed. For years cars degraded the air quality without any regulations. Until, in 1947, when the first air pollution laws were enacted like the Clean Air Act of 1970. Although these laws do help regulate these problems, they do not eliminate them.
Hypothesis:
The air quality outside of our school campus will not be great because of the increase use of motor vehicles of students everyday and the major highway that passes Panther Creek that is used by thousands of cars, which will cause the amount of particulate matter, tropospheric ozone, and sulfur dioxide concentrations to increase.
Data:
Tropospheric Ozone:
Schoenbein Number: 10
Relative Humidity: 72%
Ozone ppb: 120
Schoenbein Number: 10
Relative Humidity: 72%
Ozone ppb: 120
Particulate Matter:
Conclusion:
After all the information was gathered, it can be concluded that the air quality of Panther Creek is moderate. Also based on the data collected, it mostly accepts the hypothesis. The amount of lichens present and the diversity of lichens gave the impression of clean air quality. There were large amounts of crutose, foliose, and one usnea articulate. The tropospheric ozone ppb levels were at about 120. This means the ozone concentrations are unhealthy for sensitive groups and a little high (National Air Quaility Forecast Capacity FAQ). This could be due to the fact that motor vehicles are used by students everyday and that there is a major highway next to Panther Creek. The particulate matter was recorded as light because there were few particulates such as dirt, dust, and smoke. This means that the air quality is okay. Finally, the air quality of Panther Creek is moderate to okay because of the levels of lichens, ozone concentrations, and particulate matter.
Post-Lab Questions:
- Schoenbein #2:
- Humidity of 23% - 115 ppb
- Humidity of 48% - 45 ppb
- Humidity of 81% - 10 ppb
- 100 ppb:
- Humidity of 28% - 1.5
- Humidity of 40% - 3
- Humidity of 72% - 7
- The wind was blowing south during the experiment. This would affect the data of particulate matter because the index card that was collecting the particulates would decrease giving an inaccurate description of how many particulate matter is present at Panther Creek.
- The data obtained from the South Coast Air Quality Management District is 62 indicating that the air is moderate. The data collected from Panther Creek showed the air quality to be around 120 which can be considered unhealthy for some people. This shows that the Schoenbein paper used to measure tropospheric ozone can be seen as unreliable because the air quality of California should be worse than Cary's, which is not a major city. (Protecting the Health of Residents)
- The UV index at the test site during the lab was 2. This is low UV index and means that people can be outside safely. The UV index affects the amount of ozone concentration because the more UV that is present will cause higher levels of ozone (UV Radiation).
- The triangle did not meet the standard on this day because 120 ppb was recorded on that day of ozone, which is higher than the allowed limit of EPA standards. The information collected from the experiment was most likely inaccurate due to the fact that the UV levels were not high enough as the ozone concentration.
- Most of the places that were not meeting the Ozone requirements of the Clean Air Act are in big cities like Huston, Texas because of the size of the population and the use of cars and factories which emit air pollution.
- Reasons why particulate matter was not part of the act until the 1990's may be because people have not figured out the health effects towards people because particulate matter is so small. The main health issue is with the respiratory tract. Also people may have been noticing the effect on the environment because particulate matter can be picked up from the wind and descend into bodies of water increasing the turbidity (Particulate Matter (PM))
Bibliography:
(n.d.). Retrieved January 4, 2016, from http://www.nws.noaa.gov/ost/air_quality/FAQ_01172011.pdf
Protecting the Health of Residents. (n.d.). Retrieved January 4, 2016, from http://www.aqmd.gov/
(n.d.). Retrieved January 4, 2016, from http://oaspub.epa.gov/enviro/uv_search_v2?minx=-78.92097&miny=35.78635&maxx=-78.85231&maxy=35.82811
(n.d.). Retrieved January 4, 2016, from http://www.eco-action.org/dt/ozone.html
Health. (n.d.). Retrieved January 4, 2016, from http://www3.epa.gov/pm/health.html
Protecting the Health of Residents. (n.d.). Retrieved January 4, 2016, from http://www.aqmd.gov/
(n.d.). Retrieved January 4, 2016, from http://oaspub.epa.gov/enviro/uv_search_v2?minx=-78.92097&miny=35.78635&maxx=-78.85231&maxy=35.82811
(n.d.). Retrieved January 4, 2016, from http://www.eco-action.org/dt/ozone.html
Health. (n.d.). Retrieved January 4, 2016, from http://www3.epa.gov/pm/health.html