Utah Division of Air Quality Air Toxics Study details (I-IV).
Air Toxics Study I
The Utah Division of Air Quality has been monitoring ambient concentrations of Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs) in the Salt Lake Valley for over a decade. Since trace amounts of toxic compounds have been linked to such adverse health effects as cancer, ribosomal damage, birth defects, and other serious conditions it is important to gain a better understanding of these complete data sets. For this report, HAPs data was retrieved from the original National Air Toxics Trends Station (NATTS) monitor in West Valley, Utah. The station operated between the years, 2000 and 2002. Additional HAPs data was gathered from the newer Bountiful NATTS monitor, which has been in operation since 2007.
Toxics data from Phoenix, Arizona was also obtained in order to compare the composition of toxics between the Salt Lake and Phoenix urban areas. Phoenix is situated in a region similar in topography to Salt Lake City. It also conducts the HAPs monitoring comparable to Salt Lake City. Additionally, the Phoenix area lacks the local oil refining and mining industries that are abundant in the Salt Lake Valley. Therefore, contrasting the differences in organic toxics and metals of the two regions should help determine the impact oil refining and mining have on the air quality in the Salt Lake Valley.
- Principal Investigator: Roman Kuprov, Utah Division of Air Quality
- 2014 Final Report
Air Toxics Study II
The first analysis of toxics data completed by the UDAQ in 2014 indicated that certain organic toxic compounds regularly exceed risk levels. Research funding from the 2014 Utah legislative session allowed UDAQ to undertake a new and comprehensive analysis which included new monitoring sites to better understand the spatial distribution of toxics along the Wasatch Front.
- Principal Investigator: Roman Kuprov, Utah Division of Air Quality
- Scope of Work
- 2015 Special Toxics Study Final Report
Air Toxics Study III
This report aims to identify where Bountiful fits among other metropolitan areas across the continental United States with respect to Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs)’ concentration and trends. To accomplish that, four other metropolitan areas with diverse levels of industrialization, population, geography, and climate were used for comparison. A crucial requirement in selection was for each area to have identical monitoring equipment and analytical methods.
- Principal Investigator: Roman Kuprov, Utah Division of Air Quality
- 2017 Toxics Report
Air Toxics Study IV
A year-long study conducted by the Utah Division of Air Quality (UDAQ) in 2015 showed high levels of formaldehyde and dichloromethane at Bountiful Viewmont monitoring site in Davis County. Measured concentrations of these air toxics were also often associated with a high cancer risk, exceeding the one-in-a-million cancer risk threshold. However, while this study helped identify these high-concentration and -risk air toxics, it did not provide information on their source or sources. To identify sources of these critical air pollutants, UDAQ, in collaboration with the University of Utah, deployed passive air toxics samplers at 34 monitoring sites located within communities in the Bountiful-North Salt Lake-Woods Cross-West Bountiful area. Sampling sites were selected based on their proximity to emissions sources, typical wind patterns and distance from busy roadways/freeways. Emissions sources included refineries, manufacturing facilities, industrial gas companies and Bountiful City Landfill. Five-day time-integrated samples were collected and analyzed for a suite of VOCs and carbonyls, including dichloromethane and formaldehyde. Moreover, to investigate the effect of meteorological conditions on these air pollutants, sampling was conducted during winter (January-February) and summer (June-July) 2017.
- Principal Investigator: Nancy Daher, Ph. D. ([email protected]), Utah Division of Air Quality