Archive for the 'Air Quality' Category

Air quality is extremely important to our health and overall well being. Although it’s something we all tend to take for granted, the air quality around us plays a very important role in our lives. We’ve all heard people talking about the ozone and the ozone layer and how harmful it can be to the air quality around us. Ozone is a colorless gas that’s everywhere in the air we breathe. Depending on where you’re at when it appears will determine if it’s good or bad ozone. It occurs in the stratosphere, the upper atmosphere of the Earth and protects the Earth form sun’s ultraviolet rays.

When the ozone is at ground level, it is considered an air pollutant and can be very harmful to our health. Ground level ozone affects our air quality when the oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic compounds react to sunlight. This ozone comes from vehicles like trucks, cars, buses, etc., lawn and garden equipment, construction equipment, large factories and industries, paints and cleaners.

Air quality is tested and determine by the air quality index, which a standardized indicator of what the quality of the air is in one specific location. It measures the ozone at ground level as well as amount of particles in the air, which may include nitrogen dioxide or sulfur dioxide. The pollen count, which will also affect the air quality, is not listed in the air quality index. Certain times of the day will affect the ozone, which, in turn, affects our air quality. In urban environments, the ozone is likely to reach an unhealthy level on a hot sunny day because of the urban smog.

Rural areas can also be affected by unhealthy ozone layers because it can travel a long ways via the wind. There are some sites that give air quality reports on a daily basis so the public knows how polluted or clean the air may be that day. This is specifically important for those that may have allergies and need to know the outdoor air quality conditions before planning outdoor activities.

The ozone can cause health problems by making it harder to breathe, causing pain when breathing as well as shortness of breathing, damaging the lung lining, increases or causes coughing and aggravates lung diseases. Although the ozone affects all of us, some people are more susceptible to problems caused from poor air quality due to the ozone. These may include individuals with lung disease like emphysema, asthma or bronchitis as well as elderly. Even healthy people may occasionally be affected by the harmful effects of the ozone.

Air quality is very important to the people of the United States of America.

There are many sites on the internet where you can find information on US air quality. One of the best is the U.S. Air Quality Weblog (USAQ). The U.S. Air Quality Weblog is most commonly referred to as The Smog Blog.

On The Smog Blog, you will find daily reports on US air quality. The USAQ is in basic terms a daily diary of US air quality. The USAQ uses information gained from satellites, ground stations, EPA monitoring and numerous other monitoring service providers. The information gathered from the miscellaneous sources is then interpreted and analyzed by the personnel of the University of Maryland in Baltimore County’s Atmospheric Lidar Group. Any of the images, product references and data used on the USAQ weblog has had the copyright permissions attempted before use. The Smog Blog also requests that anyone using the information gathered from its site have copyright permissions collected before use.

There are many categories on The Smog Blog that you can view with US air quality information. Some of these categories include but most definitely are not limited to AIRS data, data fusion, PM data, lidar, nephelometer, photographed data, SUOMINET, satellite data, international data and a sun photometer.

On The Smog Blog, you can find information about the U.S. air quality weblog, you can search the site for any specific information you may be looking for, you can view recent posts and comments, you can view the site by category ad you can view each individual data source used by the site. You will also find help files, other links and miscellaneous links to contact people involved with The Smog Blog.

As previously stated, US air quality is very important to the people of the United States of America. US citizens can bookmark the smog Blog and view it daily to be assured there are not adverse air quality alerts or conditions in their area. US citizens can also use The Smog Blog to plan the outdoor activities they wish to participate in.

If you are concerned about your health in conjunction with the US air quality, you will most definitely want to bookmark and view daily the US Air Quality Weblog to know what the conditions are outside.

The Smog Blog uses many NASA satellite images and data gathered by ground monitoring stations to compile the data you will find on their site. After the data has been gathered The Smog Blog has a well-educated and experienced team of analysts and interpreters to translate the information into reports that may be posted, viewed, commented on and used by anyone with internet access.

If you wish to improve your indoor air quality and energy efficiency at the same time, you may want to follow some basic rules that will do both of these simultaneously.

If you do whatever you can to prevent cold drafts you will limit the amount of airborne allergens entering your home from the outside. By preventing cold drafts, you will be helping your indoor air quality and energy efficiency by limiting the loss of heat in the winter or cool room air in the heat of the summer. At the same time, you are limiting outside irritants as well as toxic particles that may be suspended in the atmosphere around the outside of your home. If you circulate the warm and cool air inside your home, you will not be allowing your rooms to become stuffy and stale as you are preventing odors. You will also be able to control the humidity in your home. By controlling the humidity in your home, you will be able to prevent mold and the need to use a dehumidifier, which can be very costly to run.

You will be far ahead with indoor air quality and energy efficiency if you are able to create a sanctuary inside your home away from airborne microbes that may include anthrax, botulism, small pox, toxic gasses, and radioactive particles that are released by terrorists or by accident.

A simple air leakage test can be the first step towards indoor air quality and energy efficiency. The air leakage test can be done with a fan in and outer doorway. After the fan has been placed in the outer doorway you will find that the amount of air flowing through the fan is equal to the air flowing through any leaks in the shell of the building’s construction.

If you use small cool white smoke puffs during the air leakage test you will be able to identify the areas where insects, dust, mold spores, pollen and any possible cold drafts may be entering your home.

In most new home construction as well as existing buildings there may be gaps, cracks and holes in the outer shell construction that can total as much if not more than 100 to 300 square inches. These holes in the construction of your home’s shell are open all the time. If you have a ducted air circulation system in your home it may be creating a significant level of pressure that can drive air through the cracks, crevices, holes and leaks between the interior and exterior.

Although it’s something we all tend to take for granted, the air quality around us plays a very important role in our lives. To test air quality is extremely important to our health and overall well-being. We’ve all heard people talking about the ozone and the ozone layer and how harmful it can be to the air quality around us. The ozone is colorless gas that’s everywhere in the air we breathe. Depending on where you’re at when it appears will determine if it’s good or bad ozone. It occurs in the stratosphere, the upper atmosphere of the Earth and protects the Earth form sun’s ultraviolet rays.

We need to test air quality to know where the bad ozone is and how bad the levels are. If we test air quality and discover where the good and bad ozone is at, we will then know how to improve these ozone levels. After we test air quality and find out how to improve the air quality, we then need to create a plan of how to go about the improvements.

With the advancement of science and technology, we are polluting the atmosphere at a higher rate than ever before along with advancing our technologies for limiting the pollution in which we add to the atmosphere. Air quality improvements are important to everyone in the year of 2008 and beyond. In the year 2008, we can test air quality at a much more accurate than ever before.

To test air quality is not simple but it can be done. You can test air quality yourself with a few supplies and thorough directions or you can hire any of numerous companies in the United States of America whom specialize in the service of testing air quality.

The air quality index both tests air quality and determines air quality with a standardized indicator of what the quality of the air is in one specific location. The air quality index measures the ozone at ground level as well as amount of particles in the air. The particles in the air may include but not be limited to nitrogen dioxide or sulfur dioxide. One pollutant not listed in the air quality index that can affect the air quality is the pollen count. The time of day will also affect the ozone. In turn, this affects our air quality. In urban environments, the ozone is likely to reach an unhealthy level on hot sunny days because of the urban smog.

Rural areas are also affected by unhealthy ozone layers because the ozone can travel a long ways via the wind.

There are web sites that give air quality reports on a daily basis so the public knows how polluted or clean the air may be that day. This is specifically important for those that may have allergies and need to know the outdoor air quality conditions before planning outdoor activities.

Pollutants considered to be harmful for the health of the public and environment have air quality standards set for them by the Clean Air Act of 1970 which was last amended in 1990. The Clean Air Act has set two types of national air quality standards. The two types of air quality standards set are Primary and Secondary standards.

Primary air quality standards were set to protect public health. The Primary standards include “sensitive” pollutants such as those that contribute to asthma and the pollutants dangerous to children and the elderly.

Secondary air quality standards are those set to the welfare of the public. The pollutants included in the Secondary standards include pollutants effecting animals, visibility, buildings, crops and vegetation.

The Clean Air Act requires the EPA to set air quality standards for Carbon Monoxide and five other harmful pollutants. The six harmful pollutants that the EPA Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards or the OAQPS has set standards for are Carbon Monoxide, Lead, Nitrogen Dioxide, Ozone, Particulate Matter and Sulfur Dioxide. These six pollutants are called “criteria” pollutants. The units used to measure these pollutants are parts per million (ppm) by volume, milligrams (mg/m3), and micrograms per cubic meter of air (µg/m3).

These standards have been set because the Clean Air Act requires the EPA to set the standards. The Clean Air Act also tells the EPA to review and update these standards to make sure that they continue to protect the public and the environment as the updates are needed.

The EPA and industry use these air quality standards to inform the public of the air quality in the United States of America. With this information the EPA and industry can also know if the steps they are taking to improve the air quality standards are effective.

If the air quality has went down then both the EPA and the specific industry creating the decline will know that they must change the way they are attempting to improve the air quality standards.

If the air quality has improved then the EPA and industry can investigate what improvement methods can be named as responsible for the specific improvements. After the responsible methods have been named the EPA can use these facts to update the standards, laws and regulations so that the improvements can be both continued and hopefully accelerated.

In review, the Clean Air Act has been used to set standards for the EPA to set and follow. These standards are regularly tested and updated. As the air quality standards are updated, we know the level of success our improvement methods are having on the air quality around us.

Although it’s something we all tend to take for granted, the air quality around us plays a very important role in our lives. To test air quality is extremely important to our health and overall well-being. We’ve all heard people talking about the ozone and the ozone layer and how harmful it can be to the air quality around us. The ozone is colorless gas that’s everywhere in the air we breathe. Depending on where you’re at when it appears will determine if it’s good or bad ozone. It occurs in the stratosphere, the upper atmosphere of the Earth and protects the Earth form sun’s ultraviolet rays.

We need to test air quality to know where the bad ozone is and how bad the levels are. If we test air quality and discover where the good and bad ozone is at, we will then know how to improve these ozone levels. After we test air quality and find out how to improve the air quality, we then need to create a plan of how to go about the improvements.

With the advancement of science and technology, we are polluting the atmosphere at a higher rate than ever before along with advancing our technologies for limiting the pollution in which we add to the atmosphere. Air quality improvements are important to everyone in the year of 2008 and beyond. In the year 2008, we can test air quality at a much more accurate than ever before.

To test air quality is not simple but it can be done. You can test air quality yourself with a few supplies and thorough directions or you can hire any of numerous companies in the United States of America whom specialize in the service of testing air quality.

The air quality index both tests air quality and determines air quality with a standardized indicator of what the quality of the air is in one specific location. The air quality index measures the ozone at ground level as well as amount of particles in the air. The particles in the air may include but not be limited to nitrogen dioxide or sulfur dioxide. One pollutant not listed in the air quality index that can affect the air quality is the pollen count. The time of day will also affect the ozone. In turn, this affects our air quality. In urban environments, the ozone is likely to reach an unhealthy level on hot sunny days because of the urban smog.

Rural areas are also affected by unhealthy ozone layers because the ozone can travel a long ways via the wind.

There are web sites that give air quality reports on a daily basis so the public knows how polluted or clean the air may be that day. This is specifically important for those that may have allergies and need to know the outdoor air quality conditions before planning outdoor activities.

Pollutants considered to be harmful for the health of the public and environment have air quality standards set for them by the Clean Air Act of 1970 which was last amended in 1990. The Clean Air Act has set two types of national air quality standards. The two types of air quality standards set are Primary and Secondary standards.

Primary air quality standards were set to protect public health. The Primary standards include “sensitive” pollutants such as those that contribute to asthma and the pollutants dangerous to children and the elderly.

Secondary air quality standards are those set to the welfare of the public. The pollutants included in the Secondary standards include pollutants effecting animals, visibility, buildings, crops and vegetation.

The Clean Air Act requires the EPA to set air quality standards for Carbon Monoxide and five other harmful pollutants. The six harmful pollutants that the EPA Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards or the OAQPS has set standards for are Carbon Monoxide, Lead, Nitrogen Dioxide, Ozone, Particulate Matter and Sulfur Dioxide. These six pollutants are called “criteria” pollutants. The units used to measure these pollutants are parts per million (ppm) by volume, milligrams (mg/m3), and micrograms per cubic meter of air (µg/m3).

These standards have been set because the Clean Air Act requires the EPA to set the standards. The Clean Air Act also tells the EPA to review and update these standards to make sure that they continue to protect the public and the environment as the updates are needed.

The EPA and industry use these air quality standards to inform the public of the air quality in the United States of America. With this information the EPA and industry can also know if the steps they are taking to improve the air quality standards are effective.

If the air quality has went down then both the EPA and the specific industry creating the decline will know that they must change the way they are attempting to improve the air quality standards.

If the air quality has improved then the EPA and industry can investigate what improvement methods can be named as responsible for the specific improvements. After the responsible methods have been named the EPA can use these facts to update the standards, laws and regulations so that the improvements can be both continued and hopefully accelerated.

In review, the Clean Air Act has been used to set standards for the EPA to set and follow. These standards are regularly tested and updated. As the air quality standards are updated, we know the level of success our improvement methods are having on the air quality around us.

You can prevent waste and save paper with copiers that are capable of double-sided and/or multi-page printing services. If you also buy remanufactured toner cartridges instead of always buying brand new toner cartridges you can help to reduce the amount of waste that is placed in landfills or transformation service facilities. When you purchase refurbished copiers, you are again helping to reduce waste. Although, refurbished copiers may not be equipped with the new energy efficient components.

ENERGY STAR® copiers have some of the same energy saving features as most new computers. An ENERGY STAR® copier is capable of going to “sleep” or even powering itself down when it is not in use. If a copier complies with ENERGY STAR® requirements it may be able to cut the amount of energy use from between 30 and 40 percent. The ENERGY STAR® feature may even help you to reduce energy use by lowering the running time of your air conditioning and maintenance service costs.

You can set-up your copier to help you improve the indoor air quality of your office. You can do this by setting the performance standards to allowable standards for ozone, particulate matter, styrene and volatile organic compounds from the toner cartridge. After you have set-up your copier the emitted ozone concentrations should beat a minimum complying with the state and federal occupational standards.

You can make your copier less hazardous by not using toners with diphenyl ethers (PBDE) or polybrominated biphenyls (PBB). These chemicals are carcinogenic, mutagenic and teratogenic substances. You may also purchase copiers that all lead-free solder construction of the printed circuit boards or use no arsenic, selenium or cadmium in the photoreceptor.

Another way that your copier can help air quality is waste prevention with a copier capable of Double-sided Copies. Some copiers available on the market feature automatic double-sided copying. This feature helps to save paper and energy. Based on how often the double-sided printing option is used, double-sided copying, also known as duplexing can reduce paper use. With the double-sided printing option your copier is turned into an energy saving piece of office equipment. The double-sided printing option makes a copier energy saving because it takes 10 times more energy to produce paper than it does to copy an image onto it. Digital copiers present paper-saving options with multi-page printing, as well as improvements in the way that paper is handled.

In review, you can help the air quality of your office and even the globe by buying and using ENERGY STAR® copiers as well as newer technology copiers that can perform double-sided and multi-page printing services. You may also want to buy environment friendly toner cartridges as well as refurbished copiers and remanufactured toner cartridges.

In June of 2008 it was reported that the top 5 cities with the best air quality in the world were as follows: number one is Zurich in Switzerland then the second through fifth were the four following cities: Vienna in Austria and Geneva in Switzerland both registered 107.9 points to come in at second and third. The fourth of the top five cities with the best air quality is Vancouver Canada. Finally, the fifth of the five cities with the best air quality is Auckland, New Zeeland. The rating system that these five cities were ranked by was Mercer Consulting. After the fifth city of Auckland, there were three consecutive German cities with the best air quality. The three German cities are Dusseldorf, Munich and Frankfurt. Baghdad is the lowest rated city on the list of cities with best air quality.

In the UK, while London ranked at 38 both Birmingham and Glasgow were together at 56. In the United States of America Honolulu ranked at 28.

Mercer Consulting based the scale on a point-by-point scoring index. This point by point scoring had Zurich with 108.0 points while Baghdad only scored 13.5 points. The cities were all based on a comparison with New York with an index score of 100 points. This quality of living scale ranks 215 cities around the world. The scale is used by various companies to place employees in cities for international assignments.

On the North American continent, the list was dominated by Canadian cities including Montréal ranked at 22 up to Vancouver ranked at 4. After Honolulu, ranked 28 in the United States of America the U.S. cities fall down to New York ranked at 49.

In Central and Southern Latin America San Juan, Puerto Rico is the highest ranked at 72 only to fall down as far as Port au Prince in Haiti ranked 202.

European cities pretty much dominated the scale with Zurich in Switzerland ranked number 1 overall ending at Minsk in Belarus at 183. Switzerland and Germany are both represented in the top ten overall rankings with three cities from each country. Switzerland had Zurich ranked number 1 and Geneva ranked along with Vienna in Austria both scoring 107.9 points. You can say that Switzerland has the top two ranked cities with best air quality.

In the middle east and Africa Cape Town ranked at 80 and the cities in the Middle East and Africa with best air quality dropped all the way to the bottom with Baghdad, which was ranked as the worse at 215.

The Asia Pacific region of the world started with Auckland in New Zeeland that was ranked at five and went as far down as Jakarta which was ranked 146.

Indoor air quality is important for everyone. If the air quality of your home is not clean then you will not be able to live a quality life that everyone deserves. If your home’s indoor air quality is clean then your quality of life can be more enjoyable.
There are ways for you to improve your home’s indoor air quality. The best ways to improve your home’s indoor air quality is to not smoke or use anything that emits a toxic gas inside your home, use clean and clear active air filters to filtrate the air inside your home, replace filters used to filtrate any air that is re-circulated inside your home as they become dirty and clogged. If you live in an area with a high level of air pollution such as a large city it will help your indoor air quality if you keep your windows and doors closed as much as possible so that the outside-polluted air stays out side.

If you know that your indoor air quality is already at a diminished level you will want to use any means at your disposal to help you clean out as much of the air pollution as you possibly can.

The concerns for a better indoor air quality (IAQ) have risen since the 1970’s when energy conservation plans were put into action especially in business offices. With the energy conservation efforts there was less outside air and more inside air with pollutants building up inside offices. This air quality inside of business offices is often referred to as Indoor Air Quality or IAQ.

Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) and Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) are both terms that have a relative connection to IAQ.

Complaints that have been filed in connection to IAQ are simple bad odor complaints to illness and work loss because of the IAQ. The number of possible causes, sources and general personal sensitivities are great, making it very difficult to pinpoint any actual causes. Even though the causes are difficult to make a connection to IAQ, IAQ is often named as the problem.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration or OSHA and the American Biological Safety Association or ABSA are focused on bettering indoor air quality of the workplace in general. These two associations also wish to assist the employers at all levels of business to develop a preventative viewpoint on biological safety issues.

The summary of the above is that indoor air quality is important not only at home but also in the workplace. The government, businesses and employers across the nation are concerned about your indoor air quality and are doing everything within their power to improve it for you.