Air Pollution Statistics for the United States

The type of information the agency gathers on air quality is set out in provisions of the Clean Air Act.

Currently there are around 4,000 different monitoring stations set up around the country. There is a high probability you've seen one if you live in an urban area. The monitoring stations are organized by states and they measure air quality levels of six pollutants.

• nitrogen dioxide (NO2)
• ozone (O3)
• sulfur dioxide (SO2)
• particulate matter (PM)
• carbon monoxide (CO)
• lead (Pb)

Standards, or maximum allowable limits, are set for each pollutant based on health and environmental considerations. For example, ground level ozone, or smog as it is commonly called, contributes to respiratory illness among a variety of different urban populations. Children are especially susceptible to smog related respiratory infections. In the environment category, smog also contributed to visibility problems in some U.S. National Parks. Local monitoring stations track ground level ozone levels in order to warn citizens of potential unhealthy air quality conditions.

AirData is an air pollution statistical and mapping data base provided by the EPA. You can literally click on a couple of links and create an air quality map covering a local, state or national level, for any of the six pollutants for the past ten years.

For example, six clicks of the mouse will help you discover which areas of the county experienced smog problems in 2006.

1. Click on the "Select Geographic Areas" link on the first page
2. Fill in the "Select United States" radio button
3. Click on the "GO" button at bottom of page
4. Click on the "Nonattainment Areas" link under the maps category
5. Select one of the two different ozone options (one hour or eight hour measurements) in the "Nonattainment Pollutant" box
6. Click on the "Generate Map" button

The result is a map of the United States showing which areas of the country did not meet ozone standards.

AirData draws from two different sets of statistics. Since states have the primary responsibility for maintaining the monitoring stations, the EPA reports that they receive partial state data on a weekly basis.

The end result is that complete state data files are updated about one time per month per state.

© 2007 Patricia A. Michaels.