Air quality 102 (2025) Update

a community primer

Presented by: Ron Petherbridge, Air Quality & Education Specialist

Air Pollution is Regulated under the clean air act

The CAA set National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) designed to promote cleaner air and combat public health threats that would be enforced by State and Local Agencies.

Regions within each State that do not adhere to these standards are designated as Non-attainment areas and must provide a plan to achieve these standards by a certain date.

CAA regulated air pollutants include:

SO2 NOx

HAPs VOCs

CO Pb

O3 PM

The CAA mandates Best Available Control Technology (BACT) and New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) to limit pollutant emissions from new or modified major sources.

Lets focus on two pollutants associated with problems for those with respiratory illness

• Ozone (O3) (northeastern states are not in compliance with current O3 standards)
• Particulate Matter (PM)

What is Ozone and Why is it a Health Concern?

• Ozone is an odorless, colorless gas and mixed with other air pollutants at ground level, it is commonly referred to as “Smog”.
• Ground level ozone is created by chemical reactions between oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) that chemically react in the presence of sunlight.

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• High ozone levels can make it difficult to breathe and at extreme levels it affects lung cells, rendering them more susceptible to toxins and microorganisms.

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What is particulate matter (PM) and Why is it a Health Concern?

• Airborne Particulate Matter (PM) air pollution is composed of microscopic solid or liquid particles floating in the air. PM concentration in air is measured in micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3).
• Inhalable Particulates: a diameter < 10 microns (PM10) can be inhaled into the lungs and can induce adverse health effects.
• Fine Particulates: a diameter < 2.5 microns (PM2.5) can bypass the body's normal filtration systems and penetrate deep into the lungs, inducing tissue damage, and lung inflammation. Fine PM can also enter your bloodstream.

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What are sources of these regulated air pollutants?

Health Effects from Elevated PM/O3 Exposure?

Short-Term Exposure Risk (up to 24-hours)

Shortness of breath, wheezing and coughing, asthma attacks, increased risk of respiratory infections and an increase need to receive medical treatment.

Long-Term Exposure Risks (months to years).

Respiratory harm (e.g., worsened asthma, worsened COPD, inflammation, reduced lung function growth in children) or Cardiovascular harm (e.g., heart attacks, strokes, heart disease, congestive heart failure). Harm to the central nervous system; and reproductive and developmental harm.

Who is Adversely Affected by Elevated PM/O3 Levels?

• Anyone who spends time outdoors, especially if you are breathing faster because you're working or exercising.
• At most risk are:
• children and teens, because they inhale more air per pound of body weight and they breathe faster, spend more time outdoors and have smaller body sizes. Children also have a more immature and developing immune systems
• anyone 65 and older; and
• people with existing lung diseases, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

Air quality fact sheets

Air Quality Glossary of Terms

Ozone Fact Sheet

PM Fact Sheet

Questions?

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EPA’s air quality index (AQI)

• All 48 states in the continental united states monitor the air quality within their respective borders.
• The environmental protection agency (EPA) makes the state air monitoring data available for five of the common pollutants through the “Enviroflash System” in the form of an Air Quality Index (AQI) alert.
• The AQI provides a measure of how clean or polluted the air is.
• The AQI establishes different levels based on different sensitive groups and provides guidance on how to reduce your exposure to adverse air quality.

how can jersey city stay informed about their air quality exposure?

• The Jersey City Health & Human Services (JCHHS) was awarded a grant by the EPA to monitor air quality in the underserved neighborhoods of Lafayette and Greenville. Grant partners; JCHA, SJC, GNA, Rutgers EOSHI, Gensler Research Institute.
• Air monitoring for O3, PM, and NO2 commenced in October, 2024 in three JC Housing Authority (JCHA) residential locations.
• Air Quality data for Jersey City is based on the NAAQS and AQI and is available on the JC alert system called The Daily Breather.
• You can sign up to receive The Daily Breather (developed by SJC and Temboo) here.

learning more about jersey city’s air quality

So what will we learn under this epa grant?

How the air quality changes across the city’s neighborhoods within Asthma Alley and the associated environmental health impacts.

Whether local or regional (adjacent cities) air emission sources are contributing to poor air quality within Jersey City.

How to effectively communicate air quality data and associated health impacts to the public so they can reduce their exposure.

Assess the effectiveness of current health care programs and enhance and improve community access to necessary health care programs.

How is local air quality affected by regional sources?

newark/elizabeth emission sources

Incinerators, Oil Refineries, Trucking Facilities, Chemical Storage Facilities, Ports, Commercial Facilities, Regional Highways

Jersey city emission sources

Regional Highways, Ports, Holland Tunnel, Trucking Facilities, Residential Heating Systems, Metal Processing, Railroad, Commercial Facilities

Predomin wind direction

Predominant wind direction

What does community involvement look like?

Educate community members through a leadership training program

Provide a public facing community dashboard for access to air quality data

Engage community members through a community steering committee

Engage community citizen scientists to oversee AQ equipment & to identify air pollution episodes

COMMUNITY FACING DASHBOARD - TEMBOO’s DAILY BREATHER EMAILS

COMMUNITY FACING DASHBOARD - TEMBOO’s MONTHLY SPOTLIGHT

SOCIAL MeDIA

ANALYSIS

COMMUNICATION

BUSINESS

Jupiter is a gas giant and the biggest planet in the Solar System

Venus has a beautiful name, but also very high temperatures

Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun and the smallest one

Despite being red, Mars is a cold place. It’s full of iron oxide dust

INTERPRETING AIR QUALITY EPISODES

SOCIAL MeDIA

ANALYSIS

COMMUNICATION

BUSINESS

Jupiter is a gas giant and the biggest planet in the Solar System

Venus has a beautiful name, but also very high temperatures

Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun and the smallest one

Despite being red, Mars is a cold place. It’s full of iron oxide dust

Are you interested in becoming an air quality steward?

Send me an email at:

ronald.petherbridge@sustainablejc.org

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Subject line: air quality steward

Monthly aq changes at Curries Woods

Monthly aq changes at Curries Woods

Additional studies - Ultrafine particulates (UFPs)

• Ultra-fine particulates (<100 nanometers (nm) or <0.1 um)
• Ultra-fine particulates are commonly aerosols (gases that condense out to form liquid particulates)
• Ultra-fine particulates are commonly associated with fuel combustion such as transportation vehicular emissions and contain many toxic and cancer forming chemicals
• Ultra-fine particulates readily enter deep into the human lungs where the chemicals can get easily absorbed into the bloodstream.
• Most UFPs are not detectable using current PM2.5 measurement technology.

Questions?

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how can we improve our program?

• Need more local citizens to pay attention and stay attuned to provide more input on causes of air quality events.
• Need to get the word out to more Jersey City residents. Ideas include school bulletin boards, health clinic bulletin boards, city website.
• Need to identify air quality hotspots and/or areas where health program access or awareness needs improvement.
• Need to understand air quality trends/patterns in Jersey City to help identify the cause of air quality episodes. Examples include: elevated heat days, inversion days that trap air pollution, wind direction associated with elevated AQ levels, local air emission sources.