Fine Particle Pollution Causes Poor Air Quality in Eastern Iowa

Fine particulate pollution was measured at levels above EPA health standards at four sites in Eastern Iowa on Friday. DNR air quality monitors measured 24-hour average fine particulate (PM2.5) values of 35.6 micrograms per cubic meter at Cedar Rapids and Clinton. Levels of 35.8 and 43.4 micrograms per cubic meter were measured at monitors in Davenport. The EPA’s 24-hour health standard for fine particles is 35 micrograms per cubic meter.

Pollutant levels likely to exceed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) health standards for fine particles were still present over most of Eastern Iowa Saturday morning, and are predicted to remain elevated until westerly winds help to clear out the pollution this afternoon or early evening.

The Department of Natural Resources recommends that Iowans with respiratory or heart disease, the elderly, and children limit prolonged outdoor exertion until air quality conditions improve.

Data available from midnight through 11:00 this morning indicates that average fine particulate levels were 27.1 and 41.7 micrograms per cubic meter at the two Davenport sites, 27.5 micrograms per cubic meter in Clinton, and 36.5 micrograms per cubic meter in Cedar Rapids.

Fine particles are emitted by vehicle traffic and other combustion sources and are also formed by chemical reactions in the atmosphere. Stagnant air masses do not allow the fine particles to disperse, and pollutant levels rise. In the winter, fog droplets at near freezing temperatures capture ammonia and nitric acid and give rise to fine particles made of ammonium nitrate.

EPA’s national air quality map is available online at www.airnow.gov.

For more information contact Todd Russell at 515-494-6412.