Characteristics: Ambient Pm10 Samplers

The National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for PM in terms of PM10 are ambient air concentration limits set by the EPA that should not be exceeded. Further, some state air pollution regulatory agencies (SAPRAs) utilize the NAAQS to regulate criteria pollutants emitted by industries by applying the NAAQS as property-line concentration limits. Prior to and since the inclusion of the PM10 standard, numerous journal articles and technical references have been written to discuss the epidemiological effects, trends, regulation, and methods of determining PM10. A common trend among many of these publications is the use of samplers to collect information on PM10. Often, the sampler data are assumed to be accurate measures of PM10. The fact is that issues such as sampler uncertainties, environmental conditions, and the characteristics of the materials that the sampler is measuring must be incorporated for accurate sampler measurements. The focus of this article is on the errors associated with particle size distribution (PSD) characteristics of the material in the air that is being sampled, PM10 sampler performance characteristics, the interaction between these two characteristics, and the effect of this interaction on the regulatory process. Theoretical simulations were conducted to determine the range of errors associated with this interaction for PM10 ambient air samplers. Results from the PM10 simulations indicated that a source emitting PM characterized by a mass median diameter (MMD) of 20 m and a geometric standard deviation (GSD) of 1.5 could be forced to comply with a PM10 standard that is 3.2 times more stringent than that required for a source emitting PM characterized by an MMD of 10 m and a GSD of 1.5, and 3.6 times more stringent than that required for a source emitting PM characterized by an MMD of 5.7 m and a GSD of 1.5. Therefore, in order to achieve equal regulation among differing industries, PM10 and PM2.5 measurements must be based on true concentration measurements.