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Air Toxics in AlaskaITEP Air Quality Training

Kodiak 2015

Barbara Trost/Bob MorganAlaska Department of Environmental Conservation

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Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs)

also known as

Toxic Air Pollutants or Air Toxics

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What are HAPs?Toxic air pollutants that can cause serious health effects

• Cancer

• Respiratory problems

• Neurological problems

• Reproductive problems

• Birth defects

• Adverse environmental and ecological effects

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EPA required to control 188 hazardous air pollutants

Defined by Clean Air Act (CAA) Amendments of 1990 (see list) 5 important air pollutants not on list, addressed separately as "criteria pollutants”

What are HAPs? (cont.)

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Criteria Pollutants•Particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5)

•Nitrogen dioxide (NO2)

•Sulfur dioxide (SO2)

•Ozone (O3)

•Carbon monoxide (CO)•Lead (Pb) is both criteria pollutant and HAP

CAA - Title I NAAQS

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Examples of HAPs - Mercury

• Thermometers• Thermostats• Switches• Lighting (fluorescent, CFL, HID, Neon)• Batteries (button-cell, mercury-oxide)• Coal-burning power plants• Burning municipal or hazardous waste• (Hg fact sheets and info at www.newmoa.org)

Flame Sensor(gas range)

Float Switch(sump pump)

Tilt Switch(washing machine)

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Examples of HAPs - Mercury

• Mercury mines (none currently operating)• Extraction of gold in mining• Fish and marine mammals”State health officials are actively

monitoring Alaska residents and

have not found any cases of unsafe

mercury exposures resulting from

consumption of Alaska fish”

(www.epi.alaska.gov/eh/fish/)

http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs-0072-94/

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Examples of HAPs - Cadmium

• Common in industrial workplaces • Tobacco smoke• Nickel-cadmium (NiCad) batteries (power tools,

cordless phones, professional radios, airsoft guns)

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Examples of HAPs - Lead

• Lead solder • Batteries • TV screens and computer monitors• Ammunition• Weights• Building demolition with lead-based paint• Red Dog Mine

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Examples of HAPs - Dioxins

• Group of chemical compounds that share similar chemical structures

• Herbicides - 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) “Agent Orange” & “Esteron”

• Sources: byproduct of combustion and production processes involving chlorine

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Examples of HAPs - Asbestos• Natural asbestos deposits • Insulating material (building materials before 1975,

heat-resistant fabrics)• Asbestos Containing Material (ACM)

• floor tile• Roofing material• Packing and gaskets

• (Removal requires special equipment and detailed training)

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More Examples of HAPs

• Formaldehyde – particle board, new manufactured homes (building materials and home furnishings), smoking, incomplete fuel combustion

• Beryllium – combustion of coal and fuel oil, incineration of municipal waste

• Benzene, Toluene – gasoline

• Vinyl chloride – used to make plastics (PVC)

• Radionuclides – naturally occurring radon, fallout from nuclear tests

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Sources of HAPs - Major Sources (large sources)

More than 10 tons/year of one HAP or more than 25 tons/year of combination of HAPs

• Chemical plants

• Coal-burning power plants

• Coke ovens – steel plants

• Mines (Red Dog) and refineries

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Sources of HAPs - Area Sources (small sources)

• Vehicle exhausts• Village fuel venting

tanks• Gas stations• Burning landfills• Dry cleaners • Print shops

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Long-Range Transport

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Grasshopper Effect

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Indoor Sources

Combustion• Cigarettes• Exhaust from furnace• Treated wood in wood stoves

Building materials/furnishings• Formaldehyde from pressed wood, new carpets• Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)

Paints, new carpet, glues• Dioxins from bleached fabrics

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Indoor Sources (cont.)

Household cleaning/maintenance products• Chlorine (Clorox Bleach, chlorinated cleaners)• Glues (typically, strong-smelling substances contain VOCs• Glass cleaners can contain benzene, ammonia, more

Storage / Arctic entries / Attached garages• Stored fuels• Paints and solvents• Vehicle Exhausts

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Effects of HAPs

Health Effects of HAPs

•Cancer•Neurological problems•Reproductive issues•Birth defects•Respiratory problems

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Effects of HAPs (cont.)

Environmental effects of HAPs

• Soils – spilled gasoline, leached into dump• Water – spilled gas, runoff from dump• Air – venting tanks, burning waste

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Greatest Risk in Villages

• Normally not a high risk• Some risk

• Running small boats frequently or rebuilding carburetors

• Living downwind from a dump where trash is burned

• Using commercial cleaning and building materials

• Natural sources in/near villages

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Regulation of HAPs

Emission controls

•Health-based in 1970 Clean Air Act•Not implemented•Disagreement about regulating carcinogens

•Technology-based in 1990 Clean Air Act•Pollution prevention

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Regulation of HAPs (cont.)

Regulations

• By source category• Regulate major sources first• Maximum Achievable Control Technology

(MACT)•Pollution prevention

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Contact Information

Bob Morgan, ADECPhone: 907-269-3070E-mail: bob.morgan@alaska.gov

Barbara Trost ADEC / AQ Air Monitoring and Quality Assurance, Program Manager Phone: 907-269-6249E-mail: barbara.trost@alaska.gov

Jennifer WilliamsAK Solid and Hazardous Waste Program CoordinatorInstitute for Tribal Environmental ProfessionalsPhone: 907-349-2163E-mail: jennifer.williams@nau.edu