Bay Area Pollution Symmary

This is the Bay Area Pollution Summary. It measures Ozone, Carbon Monoxide, Nitrogen Dioxide, Sulfur Dioxide, PM10, and PM2.5. If I have time I would like to compare these amounts per year to asthma rates in the Bay Area per year for the last 10 years, and see if there is any correlation. However - for PM10, and PM2.5 I still don't know what the specific particulates and chemicals are. You can download the report at http://www.baaqmd.gov/pio/aq_summaries/index.htm. I spoke to someone there, and he said the standard have gotten stricter so in the 2008 report the number of days over the standard will be higher, although to be honest I have to review the chart more thoroughly to comment on it more. I did find it interesting that on page 2 it shows we are getting WORSE at PM2.5 - exceeding standards! And we are also exceeding California standards for PM10!



I got the sources of winter PM2.5 from the Bay Area Air Quality Management team, but I still would like more info as to individual chemical names from the refining and power plant particulates sources.



It lists wood smoke as the biggest contributor, but when you combine exhaust, irrelevant of the source, you have off-road (20%) + on-road (23%) + aircraft (3%) = 46% of our particulates of winter PM2.5 are VEHICLE-EXHAUST related and that is the biggest contributor, not wood smoke!

Also - the chart does not relate the toxicity of each exhaust. For example, is wood smoke as toxic as let's say, refining exhaust? I am sorry, but I believe that it is *essential* to understand the toxicity of each to the respiratory system. I know I shouldn't assume, but my question is simple: what chemicals are being release, how much of them, what levels are toxic to humans, and what are the effects of the chemicals being released? A gram of wood smoke particulate and a gram of refinery emissions in a cubic meter of air might have very different toxicity levels in a human. I also am not sure about the toxicity levels of vehicle exhaust, I must find out about that as well. Sigh...so much to do.