Air


EPA Proposes Clean Air Standards for Harmful Soot Pollution

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed updates to its national air quality standards for harmful fine particle pollution, including soot (known as PM2.5).

Two Seafood Processors Settle Clean Air Violations for Improper Handling of Refrigerants

American Seafoods Company LLC and Pacific Longline Company LLC have agreed to phase out the use of ozone depleting refrigerants, implement a comprehensive leak detection and repair program aboard a number of their vessels and pay a penalty to resolve federal Clean Air Act violations.

Measuring the 'Other' Greenhouse Gases: New Method for Evaluating Short-Lived Pollutants

New research from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has found that levels of methane—a potent greenhouse gas emitted from many man-made sources, such as coal mines, landfills and livestock ranches—are at least one-and-a-half times higher in California than previously estimated.

EPA and Local Puerto Rico Government Reps Meet to Discuss Environmental Challenges

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck met on Thursday, June 7, 2012 in New York City with representatives of local governments from Puerto Rico to discuss environmental challenges facing municipal governments in Puerto Rico, and explore solutions.

Nanoparticles in Polluted Air, Smoke Have Serious Impact on Health

New groundbreaking research by scientists at Trinity College Dublin has found that exposure to nanoparticles can have a serious impact on health, linking it to rheumatoid arthritis and the development of other serious autoimmune diseases.

EPA Proposes Approval of Texas Clean Air Act Plan

The EPA said it will approve revisions submitted by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to the state’s permitting program for major air pollution sources under the Clean Air Act’s New Source Review (NSR) program.

Today's Climate More Sensitive to Carbon Dioxide Than in Past 12 Million Years

In the journal Nature, paleoclimate researchers reveal that about 12-5 million years ago climate was decoupled from atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. In the last five million years, changes in ocean circulation allowed Earth's climate to become more closely coupled to changes in carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere.

EPA and Partners Announce "My Air, My Health" Challenge

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Coordinator for Health Information Technology have announced a nationwide challenge called My Air, My Health (MAMH).



Plastics Producer SABIC Agrees to Reduce Harmful Air Pollution From Leaking Equipment

SABIC Innovative Plastics US LLC, and its subsidiary, SABIC Innovative Plastics Mt. Vernon, LLC, have agreed to pay about a $1 million civil penalty and improve leak detection and repair practices to settle alleged violations of the Clean Air Act (CAA) at chemical manufacturing facilities.

Algae and Mosses Take Up Huge Amounts of Carbon Dioxide and Nitrogen

In cities, the presence of algae, lichens, and mosses is not considered desirable and they are often removed from roofs and walls. It is, however, totally unfair to consider these cryptogamic covers, as the flat growths are referred to in scientific terms, just a nuisance.

Children Exposed to Pollutant Found in Tobacco Show Signs of Chromosomal Damage

According to a new study, children exposed to high levels of the common air pollutant naphthalene are at increased risk for chromosomal aberrations (CAs), which have been previously associated with cancer. These include chromosomal translocations, a potentially more harmful and long-lasting subtype of CAs.

Light Pollution Transforming Insect Communities

Street lighting is transforming communities of insects and other invertebrates, according to research by the University of Exeter.

Bark Beetle May Impact Air Quality and Climate

At national parks out West, lodgepole pine trees are dying because of bark beetle. And atmospheric haze, caused in part by tiny solid particles suspended in the air, is becoming a problem.

Pollution Warming Atmosphere Through Thunderstorm Clouds

Pollution is warming the atmosphere through summer thunderstorm clouds, according to a computational study published May 10 in Geophysical Research Letters.

Prenatal Pollution Exposure Dangerous for Kids With Asthma

The link between prenatal exposure to air pollution and childhood lung growth and respiratory ailments has been established by several studies in recent years, and now a new study suggests that these prenatal exposures can be especially serious for children with asthma.

Air Pollution Level Changes in Beijing Linked With Biomarkers of Cardiovascular Disease

During the 2008 Beijing Olympics, changes in air pollution were associated with changes in biomarkers of systemic inflammation and thrombosis (formation of blood clot) as well as measures of cardiovascular physiology in healthy young persons, according to a study in the May 16 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on Global Health.

El Paso Midstream Group to Resolve Clearn Air Act Violations in Utah

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reached a settlement with El Paso Midstream Group, LLC resolving Clean Air Act violations at the Blue Bell Gas Plant near Roosevelt in Duchesne County, Utah.

QEP Field Services Will Pay $4 Million and Install Pollution Controls After Violating Clean Air Act

QEP Services, a Colorado-based natural gas services company, has reached an agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Justice to resolve Clean Air Act violations at five natural gas compressor stations on the Uinitah and Ouray reservations in Northeastern Utah.

Humanmade Pollutants May Be Driving Earth's Tropical Belt Expansion

Black carbon aerosols and tropospheric ozone, both humanmade pollutants emitted predominantly in the Northern Hemisphere's low- to mid-latitudes, are most likely pushing the boundary of the tropics further poleward in that hemisphere, new research by a team of scientists shows.

Climate Policy Initiative Analysis: Four Major Countries Could Better Monitor Policies

Climate Policy Initiative (CPI)'s analysis of national systems that track emissions and activities to reduce emissions in the U.S., Germany, Italy and China revealed that existing systems allow these nations to determine if they are meeting their emission reduction targets, but do not allow them to identify which of their policies are most effective and efficient.