Air pollutants can be divided into two
Criteria Pollutants. These
are six pollutants for which the USEPA has set National
Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). They are ozone,
sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, particulate
matter, and lead. For many years, they have been
addressed throughout the country through a standard planning
process, and the concentrations of these pollutants in
air have been extensively monitored and tracked for compliance
with the air quality standards. Information about the criteria pollutants and their control can be found at the USEPA web site.
Air Toxics. Any
other air pollutants that are not criteria pollutants,
and that may be emitted into the air in quantities that
can cause adverse health effects, can be classified as
air toxics. These health effects cover a wide range
of conditions from lung irritation to birth defects to
cancer. There are no national air quality standards for
these pollutants, but in 1990 the U.S. Congress directed
the USEPA to begin to address a list of almost 200 of
these air toxics by developing control technology standards.
This particular list of air toxics is known as Hazardous
Air Pollutants (HAPs). You can get more information
about HAPs at USEPA's
Air Toxics Website. There is some overlap in
the grouping of pollutants. Particulate matter
can contain particles of air toxics, and lead is both
on the HAP list and a criteria pollutant. Many
of the volatile organic compounds that contribute to
the formation of ozone are also HAPs.
THE EXTENT OF THE AIR TOXICS PROBLEM IN NEW JERSEY?
Exposure to air toxics is a widespread
problem that occurs throughout the entire state. These
pollutants come from a wide variety of sources, including
traditional industrial and utility sources, smaller manufacturing
and commercial sources, mobile sources (such as cars,
trucks and buses), residential activities (such as oil
burning for home heating, and painting houses), and construction
NJDEP uses USEPA’s National-Scale Air Toxics
Assessment (NATA) to evaluate the types and amounts of air toxics people are exposed
to all over New Jersey. Risk maps and tables can
be found at Risk Results for New Jersey.
BEING DONE ABOUT AIR TOXICS?
A description of the NJDEP Air Toxics Program can be found here.