Statistical aspects of a 24-hour national ambient air quality standard for particulate matter

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1982 · Proc., Annu. Meet., Air Pollut. Control Assoc.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6000846

Frank, N H; Curran, T C

The US Environmental Protection Agency is considering proposing new National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for particulate matter. The standards under consideration would focus on particulate matter having aerodynamic diameter of less than a nominal 10 ..mu..m. This paper examines the statistical aspects of a 24-hour NAAQS for PM/sub 10/. The existing 24-hour NAAQS is stated as concentrations not to be exceeded more than once per year. It has been recognized that the relatively small number of samples associated with once in 6-day monitoring can yield underestimates of the true number of exceedances or yield a low chance of detecting violations under the current once per year form. Most particulate monitoring follows the minimum recommended sampling schedule of once every 6 days, resulting in a maximum of 61 sampling days per year. It is expected that most PM/sub 1/..sqrt.. monitoring will also follow this same schedule. A statistical NAAQS for ozone was promulgated in 1979 and specified a concentration level whose expected number of exceedances per year must be less than or equal to one. Attainment is based on a 3-year running average of estimated exceedances. The effect of sampling size would be pronounced for pollutants which are monitored on an intermittent basis of once in 6 days. In the case of particulates with sampling once every 6 days, the data sets are at best 17 percent complete. The purpose of this paper is to examine the applicability of the expected exceedance concept to these very sparse data sets. This is done by examining the effect of sample size on the determination of attainment/nonattainment for alternative forms of a short-term NAAQS, focusing on sample sizes corresponding to intermittent sampling programs. Sampling frequencies of once in 6 days, once in 3 days and once in 2 days are emphasized. 11 references, 4 figures, 2 tables.

• Research Organization: Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC
• OSTI ID: 6000846
• Report Number(s): CONF-820627-Pt.2
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Proc., Annu. Meet., Air Pollut. Control Assoc.; (United States) Journal Volume: 23
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

500200* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AIR POLLUTION MONITORING
AIR QUALITY
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MONITORING
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
PARTICLES
PARTICULATES
QUALITY ASSURANCE
SAMPLING
STANDARDS
STATISTICAL MODELS
US EPA
US ORGANIZATIONS