Studies of tolerance of certain succulent plants to ambient air sulfur dioxide levels in urban environments of a city in India — a new approach

The presence of air pollution in ambient air is closely related to the incidence of adverse reactions affecting human health. One of harmful pollutants and potentially major cause health problems is sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ). The number of vehicles that are passing and queuing on the crossroads because of traffic light can affect the concentration of SO 2 . Besides, in these locations there are a lot of road users which are potentially exposed by contaminants, so information about the concentration of SO 2 is important to know. This study aimed to investigate the impact of meteorological factors and the number of vehicles on SO 2 concentrations. Impinger was used for air sampling, and pararosaniline method was used for determining SO 2 concentration. Sampling and calculation of the number of passing vehicles were performed 3 times ie in the morning, afternoon and evening. Based on the results of the study, the highest concentrations of SO 2 were on the range of 15-21 mg/Nm3.

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Evidence of corrosion in home piping system began to appear in fixture stains and metallic taste. In 1985, the Federal Government did surveys of heavy metals in water supplies, focusing on lead in drinking water and its effect on children. The prevalence of this metal resulted in the banning of lead from solder used in plumbing. In 1988, and in 1989, regulations reduced the safe limit of lead in water from 50^gm/L to 5 μgm/L, with an action level at 15pgm/L in a first draw sample. At the same time the E.P.A. provided guidance documents to schools and day care centers to help reduce children's lead exposure in water supplies. Grants were made available to states to be used for spreading the knowledge about this danger. However, the Federal regulations applied only to public water supplies, which were defined as systems serving 25 or more people. But private wells serving family homes, many containing children, were not included. Children could be assured of regulated water supplies in school, but not at home. Aware that lead was a problem in paint chips, Connecticut required that pediatricians test for traces of lead in children at age two. The Federal act recognized that the primary source of lead in water supplies came through home plumbing systems stemming from the corrosion by the water. This was remedied by requiring public water supplies to prevent corrosion, usually by adding alkalinity to the water. Here again, private wells not included in the educational phase of the program were also not included in the remedies. While these activities with water supplies were occurring, a phenomenon of a different sort was originating in states hundreds of miles away from Southeastern Connecticut. Throughout the Midwest and into West Virginia and Kentucky, electric power generators were erecting tall stacks to disperse sulfur dioxide gasses high into the atmosphere. The gas came mostly from the burning of high sulfur coal mined nearby. The Federal air pollution standards for ambient air were being met in the Midwest by the use of these tall stacks. In the eastern states, restrictions on sulfur content of fuels, mostly petroleum based, were used to meet the ambient air standards. By the early 1980's Connecticut eased its restrictions on sulfur content in these fuels from 0.5% to 1% by weight . Still, during the next five years the sulfur dioxide level actually decreased. However, in 1986, other data collected by the State showed that 32% of the rain storms had an acidic pH of 4.0 or below [ 1 ]. The lowest pH ’ s recorded that year were 3.6. The State also reported that from 1985 to 1996 there had been a further decrease in ambient sulfur dioxide levels [ 2 ].

Hazardous and Industrial Waste Proceedings, 30th Mid-Atlantic Conference ◽

10.1201/9781498709453-139 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 860-860

Keyword(s):

Sulfur Dioxide ◽

Sulfur Content ◽

Primary Source ◽

Ambient Air ◽

The State ◽

Piping System ◽

Water Supplies ◽

Power Generators ◽

Plumbing Systems ◽

Private Wells

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Community Air Sensor Network (CAIRSENSE) project: Evaluation of low-cost sensor performance in a suburban environment in the southeastern United States

10.5194/amt-2016-131 ◽

2016 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Wan Jiao ◽

Gayle Hagler ◽

Ronald Williams ◽

Robert Sharpe ◽

Ryan Brown ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Carbon Monoxide ◽

Air Quality ◽

Sulfur Dioxide ◽

Sensor Network ◽

Correlation Coefficient ◽

Low Cost ◽

Ambient Air ◽

Sensor Technology ◽

Sensor Performance

Abstract. Advances in air pollution sensor technology have enabled the development of small and low cost systems to measure outdoor air pollution. The deployment of a large number of sensors across a small geographic area would have potential benefits to supplement traditional monitoring networks with additional geographic and temporal measurement resolution, if the data quality were sufficient. To understand the capability of emerging air sensor technology, the Community Air Sensor Network (CAIRSENSE) project deployed low cost, continuous and commercially-available air pollution sensors at a regulatory air monitoring site and as a local sensor network over a surrounding ~ 2 km area in Southeastern U.S. Co-location of sensors measuring oxides of nitrogen, ozone, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and particles revealed highly variable performance, both in terms of comparison to a reference monitor as well as whether multiple identical sensors reproduced the same signal. Multiple ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and carbon monoxide sensors revealed low to very high correlation with a reference monitor, with Pearson sample correlation coefficient (r) ranging from 0.39 to 0.97, −0.25 to 0.76, −0.40 to 0.82, respectively. The only sulfur dioxide sensor tested revealed no correlation (r 0.5), step-wise multiple linear regression was performed to determine if ambient temperature, relative humidity (RH), or age of the sensor in sampling days could be used in a correction algorithm to improve the agreement. Maximum improvement in agreement with a reference, incorporating all factors, was observed for an NO2 sensor (multiple correlation coefficient R2adj-orig = 0.57, R2adj-final = 0.81); however, other sensors showed no apparent improvement in agreement. A four-node sensor network was successfully able to capture ozone (2 nodes) and PM (4 nodes) data for an 8 month period of time and show expected diurnal concentration patterns, as well as potential ozone titration due to near-by traffic emissions. Overall, this study demonstrates a straightforward methodology for establishing low-cost air quality sensor performance in a real-world setting and demonstrates the feasibility of deploying a local sensor network to measure ambient air quality trends.

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New approach to street architecture to reduce the effects of blast waves in urban environments

Structural Failure and Plasticity ◽

10.1016/b978-008043875-7/50175-1 ◽

2000 ◽

pp. 261-266

Author(s):

Ehab H. Mahmoud ◽

John.G. Hetherington

Keyword(s):

Urban Environments ◽

Blast Waves ◽

New Approach

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Evaluation of Tire Wear Contribution to PM2.5 in Urban Environments

Atmosphere ◽

10.3390/atmos10020099 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 99 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Julie Panko ◽

Kristen Hitchcock ◽

Gary Fuller ◽

David Green

Keyword(s):

Los Angeles ◽

Road Dust ◽

Ambient Air ◽

Urban Environments ◽

Exhaust Emission ◽

Potential Contribution ◽

Urban Centers ◽

Vehicle Traffic ◽

Road Pavement ◽

Tire Wear

Vehicle-related particulate matter (PM) emissions may arise from both exhaust and non-exhaust mechanisms, such as brake wear, tire wear, and road pavement abrasion, each of which may be emitted directly and indirectly through resuspension of settled road dust. Several researchers have indicated that the proportion of PM2.5 attributable to vehicle traffic will increasingly come from non-exhaust sources. Currently, very little empirical data is available to characterize tire and road wear particles (TRWP) in the PM2.5 fraction. As such, this study was undertaken to quantify TRWP in PM2.5 at roadside locations in urban centers including London, Tokyo and Los Angeles, where vehicle traffic is an important contributor to ambient air PM. The samples were analyzed using validated chemical markers for tire tread polymer based on a pyrolysis technique. Results indicated that TRWP concentrations in the PM2.5 fraction were low, with averages ranging from < 0.004 to 0.10 µg/m3, representing an average contribution to total PM2.5 of 0.27%. The TRWP levels in PM2.5 were significantly different between the three cities, with significant differences between London and Los Angeles and Tokyo and Los Angeles. There was no significant correlation between TRWP in PM2.5 and traffic count. This study provides an initial dataset to understand potential human exposure to airborne TRWP and the potential contribution of this non-exhaust emission source to total PM2.5.

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