EDITOR’S NOTE: This story idea was received via the Open Source portal at Knox Pages.
CENTERBURG — One Knox Pages reader asked, “Why do the individual county health departments not have air quality monitors?”
Citing AirNow, the reader pointed out there is only one air quality monitor in Knox County, located in Centerburg.
To answer the question, we went right to the source and found out something interesting: county health departments have little to do with air quality monitors.
“Local health districts are not involved nor advised of when these monitors are installed,” Knox Public Health Commissioner Zach Green said in an email.
Who monitors Ohio’s air quality?
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) is in charge of installing, operating and maintaining air quality monitors across the state.
“Knox County’s regional air quality is meeting the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS),” OEPA Public Information Officer Dina Pierce said in an email.
“These standards protect the health of everyone, especially those who are considered ‘sensitive’ populations like children, the elderly, and people with breathing difficulties.”
This AirNow website allows people to monitor their local air quality for particulates and ozone levels in real time.
Pierce noted the monitor in Centerburg measures ozone.
Ozone causes people with respiratory and cardiovascular conditions to experience certain health effects.
Air quality alert days usually occur when the OEPA forecasts high concentrations of ozone, according to Pierce.
“Federal requirements determine the number of monitors and their locations, which include population sizes, significant sources of emissions (such as industrial sites), areas of regional transport (major highways), areas with expected high concentrations and areas where general background concentrations are expected,” Pierce said.
OEPA maintains a network of more than 100 monitors across various urban and rural locations.
Each monitor station records data on the six NAAQS criteria pollutants, and those pollutants are:
- PM2.5
- PM10
- Sulfur dioxide
- Nitrogen oxide
- Carbon monoxide
- Lead
“Ohio EPA also has monitors for metals, volatile organic compounds, carbonyls and other pollutants not required by NAAQS,” Pierce said.
“You can find more details about the monitoring network in Ohio’s air monitoring network plan.”