Air Toxics
On August 3, 2006, amendment of ORC3704.03(F) became effective as a result of Senate Bill 265 of the 126th General Assembly. The newly amended statute identifies the requirements for reviewing new and modified air contaminant sources with air toxic emissions. Prior to this, Ohio EPA had an "Air Toxics Policy" often referred to as "Option A." The newly amended statute incorporated the use of Option A into law and it also required Ohio EPA promulgates a list of toxic air contaminants that would fall under this review requirement. On December 01, 2006, Ohio EPA's list of toxic air contaminants became effective in OAC 3745-114-01. Ohio EPA toxicologist recommended 303 compounds for the toxic air contaminant list based on a review of scientific evidence available. Below you will find useful information regarding air toxics in general and Ohio EPA's regulation of air toxics.
Air Toxics Monitoring
Residing within the Division of Air Pollution Control (DAPC) and under the Air Monitoring Section is the Air Toxics Monitoring Group (ATMG), which is responsible for all ambient air toxic monitoring tasks, basically monitoring for those compounds that are not covered by the criteria pollutant monitoring program. The criteria pollutants are: sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone, lead, and particulate matter less than 10 microns or (PM10). USEPA has established National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for these compounds. These standards were intended to protect the public health and welfare. There are clear and specific mandates to monitor for criteria pollutants, for non-criteria pollutants there are none.
The primary agenda of the ATMG has been the development of a broad based air toxics monitoring program that incorporates all the Division of Air Pollution Control's District Offices and the Local Air Agencies in the State of Ohio. The emphasis of this program has followed general guidelines recommended by USEPA for the development of an Urban Air Toxics Monitoring Program (UATMP). The sampling and analytical procedures and methodologies used in the UATMP were compiled by USEPA in the Compendium of Methods for the determination of Toxic Organic Compounds in Ambient Air. Under these guidelines, Ohio EPA DAPC has concentrated its efforts on establishing methods and procedures for monitoring the following groups of compounds:
- Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) - examples: benzene, chloroform, styrene, toluene. etc.
- Heavy metals - examples: arsenic, cadmium, chromium
- Semi-volatile organic compounds - examples: polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), chlorinated pesticides, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), dioxins.
The main focus of the Ohio EPA Air Toxics Monitoring Group (ATMG) has been on monitoring ambient air concentrations of these groups of pollutants in large populated/industrial urban areas such as Cleveland and Cincinnati. These urban monitoring efforts are intended to determine the overall air quality of these areas related to the monitored toxic pollutants. Unfortunately it has been difficult to make meaningful health assessments for such large areas based on the data that has been collected.
In addition to those broad urban studies, several specific monitoring projects have been conducted in smaller communities such as Dayton, Lima, New Boston, and East Liverpool. These projects have concentrated more on specific areas or sources and have produced data that can be used to define the air quality for a more localized area.
Overall the ATMG has developed a fairly comprehensive air sampling capability for the toxic pollutants upon which it has chosen to concentrate its efforts. Unfortunately these capabilities are basically confined to sample collection followed by extensive laboratory analyses. The ATMG is the laboratory liaison and coordinates the analysis of lead samples and almost all non-criteria pollutant samples for DAPC. Our real-time or field sample analysis capability is limited. This is an area that has been targeted for further development.
Overall the ATMG sampling program has included a number of projects focusing on several different efforts:
- Urban air toxics
- Source monitoring
- Emergency episode monitoring
- Complaint investigation
- Cross Media pollution monitoring
- Great Lakes deposition monitoring
- Post Remediation Monitoring
- Emission verification.
To accomplish these task, The ATMG utilizes a variety of sampling and monitoring devices. The equipment inventory includes several 6 liter stainless steel canisters for the collection of VOCs, automated samplers, portable meteorological stations, global position locators, a portable gas chromatograph, and a number of other instruments devoted to or modified for air toxics sampling or monitoring.
For further details on ATMG projects or copies of completed reports, please contact Phil Downey.