Evaluation of EPA 2004 National Monitoring Programs Data: Pollutant Fingerprint Analyses and Trends

摘要

EPA sponsors the National Monitoring Programs (NMP) to obtain air toxics measurements data to characterize the composition and magnitude of pollution across the United States. For the 2004 program year, forty-four sites participated in the NMP, measuring a range of air toxic pollutants. 1 Many of these pollutants are carcinogenic and/or non-carcinogenic, such as asthma. In the 2004 program year, half of the forty-four sites measured the same suite of pollutants - volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and carbonyl compounds - resulting in the potential for 70 pollutants in common. This paper compares the pollutant "fingerprint" across these twenty-two sites, specifically focusing on hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). Additionally, eleven of these sites have participated annually in the NMP from 2001 through 2004. Evaluations of how the concentrations for select HAPs have changed for these eleven monitoring sites are also discussed.