Outdoor Air Quality
Why
is outdoor air quality a concern?
During the last two
decades, the public has become increasingly concerned over the potentially
damaging health effects of air pollution, especially in Connecticut's urban
areas, including Hartford. Some of the pollutants in the air are known to
be toxic, or poisonous. They may have health effects ranging from triggering
asthmatic attacks to causing cancer. Other pollutants are thought to be harmful,
but their effects are not clearly linked to specific illnesses. It should
be noted, however, that in general, Hartford's air quality compares favorably
with that of other urban areas in the United States.
In Hartford, the
major components of outdoor air pollution include
Each of these topics will be
discussed in detail below.
The information represents the
best data currently available. It should be noted that ongoing studies including
the Hartford
Health Department
and CT Department
of Environmental Protection’s (CTDEP)
Air Toxics Studies and other CTDEP particle and ozone networks are expected
to provide additional information in the future.
Criteria Pollutants have been monitored and regulated by the USEPA and
Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection since the early 1970's.
There have been major improvements in air quality since that time. For more
information, including graphs showing concentrations since 1974, click
here.
What are the
sources of air pollution?
Mobile Sources
As this chart shows,
approximately 41% of the air toxics in the Greater Hartford area comes from
onroad mobile sources, which include both gasoline and diesel vehicles, such
as cars, pickup trucks, heavy-duty trucks, and buses. Another 28% comes from
nonroad mobile sources. For more detailed information about this assessment
and its limitations click
here.
Some of the toxic
(poisonous) pollutants emitted by gasoline engines include:
|
Arsenic
|
1,3-Butadiene
|
Chromium
|
|
Dioxins
|
Formaldehyde
|
Furans
|
|
Lead
|
Methyl Tertiary-butyl
ether (MTBE)
|
Nickel
|
|
Styrene
|
Toluene
|
|
Stationary
Sources
The remainder of
the air pollution is contributed by a variety of stationary sources, such
as power plants, municipal waste incinerators, industrial facilities, and
commercial and residential area sources. Area sources include dry cleaning
facilities, automobile refinishing facilities, home heating devices.
Figure 1 Sources of Air Releases
in Hartford (both stationary and area) (US EPA 1996 data). Map
courtesy of EPA.
Click map to see a larger view
Both stationary and
mobile sources contribute to the production of dioxin, ozone, fine particles
(PM2.5), and hazardous air pollutants.
