CU-Boulder study suggests air quality regulations miss key ...(so pointed out that while all types of f...)

Date:9/24/2008

so pointed out that while all types of fine particle pollutants are considered harmful, little is known about how a particle's chemical composition might exacerbate its impact on human health. Fine particles have diameters of less than 2.5 microns, or less than one-tenth the diameter of a human hair.

The CU-Boulder-led study employed several continuous and filter-based sampling techniques, as well as five different methods to estimate the amount of chemically formed, organic particles in haze. All five methods showed that 68 to 90 percent of total organic pollution hanging over the Los Angeles region during the afternoon is secondary in nature. During the morning commute, when direct emissions from vehicles are at their peak, secondary particles still make up about half of the organic haze.

"We have used almost all the methods that can be used to attack this problem, and the fact that they give consistent results at one location and time is very telling," said project director and CU-Boulder Professor Jose-Luis Jimenez. Jimenez conducted similar research in Pittsburgh in 2002 and Mexico City in 2006, where secondary organic particles also were found to contribute significantly to the region's poor air quality.

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Contact: Ken Dochery kenneth.docherty@colorado.edu 303-492-0594 University of Colorado at Boulder Source:Eurekalert

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