- Using 1 gas mower for 1 hour is equivalent to driving 1 car 140 miles.
CLEAN AIR NEWSLINE
July 2006 Edition
In this issue:
Smog: The downside of summer sunlight
Hot summer days combined with heavy traffic can lead to ozone, the primary component of smog. Ozone affects everyone’s health and especially hurts children, senior citizens, people with lung ailments and outdoor exercisers. Also, our region remains close to exceeding the federal health standard for ozone, which could trigger expensive regulatory requirements and impact economic growth.
The biggest cause of ozone: gasoline-fueled vehicles. They emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx), which on hot sunny days can react with sunshine and form ozone, a main component in smog. The other top contributors are fumes from paint and exhaust from gasoline-fueled yard equipment such as mowers, trimmers and leaf blowers.
The Puget Sound area typically experiences smog problems during warmer summer months, when temperature reach 85 degrees or higher, and especially when winds are stagnant or light.
Thanks for taking ozone action
July’s heat wave is behind us for now, but it did give us some very smoggy days. In fact, the Puget Sound region is having its worst ozone season since 1998, with ozone exceedances in May, June and July.
Things could have been worse, however, if it hadn’t been for the actions of businesses and individuals who voluntarily curtailed activities that generate smog-precursors. The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency commends those who made special efforts – and urges continued action throughout the summer to protect air quality.
“Clean air behaviors can help prevent smoggy days,” says Dennis McLerran, executive director of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency. “Everyday activities like driving, fueling up, and running lawnmowers create the emissions that on hot days can lead to smog. Taking action to reduce pollution can help ensure our ozone levels stay within healthy limits.”
While Puget Sound region ozone levels are currently in
attainment with national air quality standards, monitoring
sites have already recorded four ozone exceedances this
year. To find out more, visit www.pscleanair.org/news/2006/07_31_Ozone.shtml.
To see ozone data from the last few months, visit www.pscleanair.org/news/2006/07_31_Ozone_charts.shtml.
You, too, can be a Smog Watch action hero
When our agency’s air forecasters predict summertime air pollution rising to unhealthy levels, we issue a Smog Watch.
The Smog Watch is a call-to-action encouraging individuals, businesses and local governments to reduce their smog-producing activities. It is announced to local media and e-mailed to our Clean Air Action Network. If you are a subscriber to this newsletter, you automatically receive these alerts. Note: If you have signed up using your work e-mail address, feel free to also sign up with your home e-mail so you can be certain to get alerts that are called on the weekend (as happened in June). Go to www.pscleanair.org/news/email_list.shtml to sign up.
How businesses, cities and counties can help during a Smog Watch:
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Encourage ridesharing, carpooling and telecommuting.
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Postpone jobs using small gasoline-powered equipment, especially two-cycle equipment such as leaf blowers, edgers and trimmers.
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Encourage drivers to avoid engine idling.
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Post signs at motor pool, parks maintenance and other sites about vehicle use and refueling.
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Fuel vehicles and equipment in the cooler early evenings. [When gasoline vapors are released early in the day, they are “cooked” in the sunlight and turn into ozone/smog. Sunlight is less intense by early evening, so vapors don’t turn into ozone.]
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Avoid painting until the heat wave breaks.
How individuals can help during a Smog Watch:
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Drive less, link trips, ride your bike, carpool or bus to work, or work at home if possible.
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Refuel in the cooler evenings.
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Avoid spilling gasoline whenever you refuel.
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Wait until the heat wave breaks to use gasoline-powered mowers, edgers, trimmers and other yard equipment.
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Avoid painting until the heat wave breaks.
Local refiners supply smog-reducing gasoline to help clear the air
Since we can’t control the weather or stop the use of gasoline, the availability of cleaner fuels plays a key role in our agency’s summer smog program.
The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency commends regional oil refiners and suppliers for voluntarily supplying special smog-reducing gasoline.
This special summer gasoline makes a big difference in the Puget Sound area, where people use approximately 3.4 million gallons of gasoline to drive roughly 80 million miles every day in King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties. All of that driving, plus using gas-powered yard and recreation equipment, adds up to more than 50 percent of the summer smog-forming emissions.
The gasoline, called low-vapor pressure fuel, reduces smog-forming pollutants in our region by more than five percent by reducing tailpipe emissions and evaporation of hydrocarbons from vehicle gas tanks, gas stations and fuel-transfer operations. Hydrocarbons are a key contributor to the formation of ozone, or summer smog.
BP (ARCO), Shell Puget Sound Refining Company (Shell), Tesoro Refining and Marketing Company (Tesoro), and Conoco/Phillips (76) are producers of smog-reducing gasoline, which is also distributed at Chevron, Exxon and Mobil stations.
To read more about this voluntary initiative, click to http://www.pscleanair.org/news/newsroom/releases/2006/06_26_RefinersSupplyLRV.aspx .
Newly released 2005 Air Quality Data Summary finds that ozone and fine particulate matter are still a concern
The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency has issued an air quality data summary report almost every year for over 30 years. As in previous years, the 2005 Data Summary includes an overview of the Puget Sound monitoring network, allocates emissions sources, describes 2005 impaired air quality events (Burn Bans and Smog Watches), and graphically presents criteria air pollutant and visibility trends in the Puget Sound area. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets national ambient air quality standards for these criteria air pollutants.
As with the 2004 summary, we've also included Seattle air toxics data (monitored by the Washington State Department of Ecology) in the 2005 summary. This additional information helps provide a more comprehensive assessment of Puget Sound's air quality.
The Puget Sound region has made great progress in reducing most of its criteria air pollutants in the last decade: carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead and nitrogen dioxide are all below federal standards.
Two criteria air pollutants remain a concern:
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Fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Our region meets the daily federal standard (65 ug/m3). However, concentrations at monitors in three of our four counties exceed the more stringent health goal (25 ug/m3) set by our agency’s Board of Directors. The health goal is based on a comprehensive review of health studies. Additionally, monitors in two of our counties would violate EPA's newly proposed daily fine particulate standard if it is implemented as proposed. To find out more about these proposed standards, visit http://www.pscleanair.org/news/newsroom/releases/2005/12_22_EPA.aspx .
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Ozone. Our region has not violated the ozone federal standard since 1992. However, concentrations have not decreased significantly below the federal standard, despite reductions to ozone precursors like nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds.
In addition to criteria air pollutants, air toxics monitored at Seattle’s Beacon Hill near Interstate-5 are at concentrations that pose adverse health effects. These include increased cancer risk, respiratory effects, and cardiovascular and neurological effects. While we only have six years of air toxics data for Beacon Hill, which is a short time period to characterize trends, 2005 annual averages are lower than 2000 annual averages for all air toxics except one. This may mean we are starting to see some progress in reducing most air toxics, but again, six years is too short a time span to note trends.
Monthly air quality data summary: May*
May’s weather lacked excitement. Average temperature for the month at SeaTac Airport was 56.8 degrees, one degree above normal, and precipitation totaled 1.65 inches, only 0.13 inches below normal.
The most notable air quality event for the month was an exceedance of the national ozone (summer smog) standard on May 16, a rare event this early in the year. A warm sunny day accompanied by much hotter air aloft (a steep temperature inversion) led to ozone formation with pollution being trapped near the surface.
For the month, we experienced 25 days in the “Good category, five days in the “Moderate” category, and one day (May 16) in the “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” category.
For data summaries of air quality monitored throughout our four-county region, click to http://www.pscleanair.org/airq/reports.aspx .
* Because of the time it takes to review data for quality assurance and process data for reports, our summary discussions in each “Newsline” edition will be two month previous. Thus, our report for this edition is for May 2006.
About the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency
The mission of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency is to ensure that people in King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties have clean, healthy air to breathe. Our job is to provide air quality management services on behalf of cities and counties for their citizens. We do this by adopting and enforcing air quality regulations, sponsoring voluntary initiatives to improve air quality, and educating people and businesses about clean-air choices. To learn more about our work, visit us at www.pscleanair.org.
About the Clean Air Newsline
Clean Air Newsline is a monthly electronic newsletter to provide air quality information to the residents of King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties. Subscribers receive the latest on air quality news, trends and projects that affect our local communities and the air we breathe. Feel free to pass the information along to others.
We also use the Newsline as needed to send timely and important messages about burn bans, Smog Watches and early calls to action when air quality deteriorates.
If you would like to subscribe, you can do so at www.pscleanair.org/news/email_list.shtml. Be sure to select Clean Air Newsline to be added to the e-mailing list.