Air quality alert issued for wildfire smoke

Posted on July 18, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

Smoky air that blew into Inland Northwest in a few hours Thursday afternoon likely will persist through at least Saturday as a 12-day heat wave gives way to moderating temperatures, but also gusty winds.

The blue-brown haze from Central Washington wildfire smoke sent air quality in Spokane from the good range Thursday morning to the unhealthy level by 4:30 p.m.

The government’s air quality index peaked at a reading of 154, just above the threshold of 150 for air pollution that is considered unhealthy for the general population. Similar readings were reported east of Spokane in North Idaho.

Forecasters said that fine particles from smoke can be a health hazard. They recommended reducing outdoor activities or staying indoors. Burning eyes, runny nose and scratchy throat are typical symptoms caused by smoke. Lung conditions can be aggravated.

A “red flag” alert for high fire danger from wind and low humidity was extended through 11 p.m. today with more winds in the forecast.

Gusts to 38 mph as measured at Wenatchee on Thursday prevented smoke plumes from rising into the sky. Instead, low-level winds spread the smoke eastward along the ground. Spokane reported gusts to 25 mph.

“It got bad real fast,” said Lisa Woodard, a spokeswoman for the Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency.

She said the last time air quality approached Thursday’s level was during another outbreak of wildfires in central Washington in September 2012. The air quality index is on a scale of 1 to 500 with readings above 300 in the worst category, hazardous.

The smoke problem prompted the National Weather Service to post air quality alerts for the region, including North Idaho.

At least four major fires were burning across north central Washington, including the lightning-caused Chiwaukum Creek Fire west of Leavenworth, first detected on Tuesday after Monday thunderstorms.

That fire forced closure of U.S. Highway 2 between Leavenworth and Cole’s Corner on Thursday.

Residents of 860 homes have been told they should leave immediately, fire officials said. Another 800 homes were less seriously threatened. Light ash fell in Leavenworth, according to the Associated Press.

A group of lightning-caused fires, known as the Carlton Complex, had burned 4,400 acres near Winthrop, according to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center. That fire started Monday.

The other big blazes are the Mills Canyon Fire near Entiat, which started July 8 and has burned 22,500 acres, and the R Road Fire near Mansfield, which started Wednesday and had burned 4,250 acres.

Numerous smaller blazes were reported across the region, including in Kittitas and Yakima counties.With the warm temperatures and gusty winds, Spokane County, the city of Spokane and Spokane Valley issued burn bans for most recreational fires. The bans apply to the cities of Liberty Lake and Millwood.

Under them, no outdoor recreational fires are allowed. Residents still can use backyard barbecues. Portable outdoor fireplaces are allowed if the device has a spark arrester and approved fuels such as seasoned firewood, propane or briquettes are used.

Until Thursday, smoke had stayed elevated in the atmosphere as a result of the hot weather pattern, which was favorable to rising smoke plumes.

Weather forecasters said the heat wave allowed a thermal low pressure area to build along the east side the Cascades, letting smoke rise vertically into the middle atmosphere, keeping it well above the ground through Wednesday. That weather feature has moved to the east as a weak cold front ushered in the winds and moderating temperatures on Thursday.

Smoky skies overhead created an eerie orange glow in Spokane on Thursday morning. From noon to 1 p.m., the visible smoke along the ground increased dramatically.

Winds through the weekend will be strengthened by cool Pacific marine air moving into the passes and gaps in the Cascades and spilling downward along the east slopes and across the Columbia Basin.

Ellie Kelch, a weather service forecaster in Spokane, said the smoke “is going to roll downhill into the basin.”

Overnight temperature inversions were expected to intensify smoke concentrations at dawn through Saturday and possibly Sunday. Highs should go from the upper 80s today to lower 80s on Sunday in Spokane.

Gusty winds are expected to return during the day through Saturday, initially clearing some of the smoke, only to be replaced by a new shot from the wildfires, Kelch said. Gusts to 30 mph are possible Saturday in Spokane.

Woodard said that clean air agency scientists hope moderating temperatures in the Cascades will reduce the volume of fire and smoke from Thursday’s levels.

The counties affected by the air quality alert are Spokane, Chelan, Okanogan, Douglas, Grant, Adams, Lincoln, Garfield, Asotin, Whitman, Ferry, Stevens and Pend Oreille in Washington and all of North Idaho as far south as Nez Perce and Lewis counties.

A check of emergency rooms at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Providence Holy Family Hospital showed no patients with lung problems, but a doctor reported that as time goes on with poor air quality, patients with lung conditions may start appearing for treatment, a Providence spokeswoman said.

via Air quality alert issued for wildfire smoke – Spokesman.com – July 17, 2014.

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Bill reintroduced to give Utah Division of Air Quality more ‘flexibility’

Posted on July 17, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

A bill was reintroduced Wednesday that would give the Utah Division of Air Quality more flexibility in forming strategies to achieve standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency.

HB121 was introduced during the 2014 Legislature and approved by the Senate, but stalled in the House.

Bill sponsor Rep. Becky Edwards, R-North Salt Lake, says the legislation would allow the state to manage air quality in ways tailored to local circumstances.

“Utah’s unique topography and geography and weather conditions create circumstances that are unique and really require some flexibility (and) innovation as we create Utah solutions to meet (EPA) standards,” Edwards told the Legislature’s Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Interim Committee.

“We’re not talking about creating standards that are more difficult. We are understanding in the fact that we have difficulty in even achieving the standards that are there right now by the EPA,” Edwards said.

Sen. Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City, recalled the concerns that kept the bill from passing earlier this year.

“Industry doesn’t support it because they worry about the state of Utah putting standards on (them) that are tougher than the (EPA’s),” Jenkins said, “and we worry about those who come after us and the fact that maybe they will get tougher yet.”

But standards are not to be confused with rules, which the bill defines as strategies, Edwards said.

“This is not increasing regulation,” she said. “It’s flexibility. It is innovation. It’s about unique solutions.”

Edwards cited examples of where the bill would be necessary, such as pollution source monitoring programs that go beyond what the EPA allows and permitting the state to consider episodic winter inversions in developing its implementation plan.

The committee plans to vote on the bill next month.

The committee also discussed new emission standards from the EPA, which are expected to be proposed in December. The standards would mean a 27 percent reduction from current emissions at Utah’s power generation facilities, according to Bryce Bird, Utah Division of Air Quality director.

The standards would likely be implemented in October 2015.

Bird identified key priorities for the Legislature in 2015, including ongoing research and monitoring, updating energy-efficient building codes, and lowering diesel emissions.

But the state has made notable progress, he said. Since 2008, pollution from on-the-road sources has decreased by 9 percent, and more funds are being allocated for local research, state air quality officials said.

“This really continues the trend of emissions improvements statewide. For all categories and all sources, we’re seeing this trend continue,” Bird said. “We’re seeing the economy grow. We’re accommodating more people, but because we’re able to apply better technology, … the economy’s growing but at a lower emission rate.”

via Bill reintroduced to give Utah Division of Air Quality more ‘flexibility’ | Deseret News.

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Moscow Air Pollution Reaches Especially Dangerous Levels

Posted on July 17, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

Moscow’s air pollution is expected to reach especially hazardous levels on Wednesday as temperatures in the city climb to 32 degrees Celsius 90 Fahrenheit.

The warning was triggered after the morning temperature exceeded the expected norm by about 5 C, said the federal agency in charge of monitoring the environment, RosHydroMet.

An unexpectedly high concentration of pollutants is being recorded in the city, with the pollution at its worst in the early hours of the morning and evening, state news outlet ITAR-Tass reported, citing RosHydroMet.

Children, pregnant women and the elderly, as well as sufferers of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, are advised to avoid going outside in the late afternoon, between 3 and 6 p.m.

The air should be cleaner on Thursday as a wind blows in from the northwest, the report said. Temperatures are expected to drop slightly on Thursday to between 27 and 29 C.

via Moscow Air Pollution Reaches Especially Dangerous Levels | News | The Moscow Times.

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Air pollution at dangerous levels in parts of King’s Lynn, warns report

Posted on July 16, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

Nitrogen dioxide levels in parts of the town are currently high enough to cause a serious risk to health, warns a new report.

The report to West Norfolk councillors states: “Air pollution can make our environment less attractive and can have serious effects on health. We are aiming to reduce air pollution to levels that do not cause a risk to human health.”

Proposals include altering road layouts to improve congestion on busy streets in South Lynn and Gaywood and a creating a bus only lane from Wisbech Road to Boal Street.

Officials say the aim is to encourage people out of their cars to use other forms of transport.

Other suggestions include encouraging more people to park in West Lynn and catch the ferry, and residents’ only parking in town centre streets to discourage commuters from using them for free parking.

Brian Long, deputy leader of the council, said: “The current levels are not good enough, so it’s important we do all we can to make King’s Lynn a more environmentally friendly place to work and live.”

County councillor Alexandra Kemp, who represents South Lynn, said: “It is essential we start getting more people to walk to work, to use a bicycle or get the ferry from West-Lynn.”

Figures produced by Public Health England link 29,000 deaths in the UK each year to air pollution.

Other proposals include special traffic controls at main junctions to reduce stop and start driving, improve traffic flow and reduce emissions.

A new bus-only lane from Wisbech Road, through The Friars to Boal Street could be used by other vehicles such as taxis.Residents only parking is also being conssidered in the town centre to encourage visitors and workers to use public car-parks, rather than residential streets.

Car parking charges will be investigated, with the aim of evening out peak travel times while also making short trips easy.

Councillors on the regeneration, environment and community panel discuss the report on Wednesday, July 23.

via Air pollution at dangerous levels in parts of King’s Lynn, warns report – Environment – Eastern Daily Press.

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Sheffield air pollution ‘will breach guidelines until 2025’

Posted on July 15, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

Air pollution in Sheffield is set to remain in breach of European limits until at least 2025 – a decade later than hoped.

Revised Government figures have extended the expected time it will take the city to get below the European Union’s nitrogen dioxide pollution limit.

A report in September 2011 said Sheffield should be complying with the target by 2015.

However, updated projections from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said nitrogen dioxide emissions are now projected to be in breach of EU guidelines until 2025.

A Defra spokesman said the projections have been updated to ‘reflect more accurate assumptions’ about how cars contribute to pollution. He said the assumptions are ‘more pessimistic’ than previous projections.

The spokesman said: “This is largely due to the failure of the European vehicle emission standards for diesel cars to deliver expected emission reductions.”

Neil Parry, from the East End Quality of Life Initiative which is campaigning for improved air quality in the east end of Sheffield, said the city would be further set back by the decision to build the new Ikea store in Carbook and the Government throwing out plans for a 60mph limit on the M1 through the city.

He said: “We need to reaffirm what we are doing as a city to move forward and get people on short journey to use things other than cars.

“We have got to do something about this – it is a public health crisis. Unless we do something, we are talking about a lot of people in Sheffield who are going to suffer ill-health.”

A Sheffield Council report last year said poor air quality is causing an estimated 500 premature deaths a year in the city.

via Sheffield air pollution ‘will breach guidelines until 2025’ – Sheffield Telegraph.

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Respro® Masks FAQ: Which Respro® Mask should I buy for urban use?

Posted on July 14, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

skins-leavesFor cycling/walking in the urban/city environment, we recommend the Techno™ mask where pollution is high and full of diesel particulates. The Techno™ filter in the Techno™ mask is the Sports filter and the City™ filter combined giving the user both sub-micron particle filtration with gas and vapour filtration.

The Techno™ filter has sub-micron filtration capability. What this means is that it is able to trap particles less than one micron in size which is more than capable of the removal of 2.5 micron Particulate Material (PM2.5).
Typically particulate pollution in the cities appears to be in the 2.5 micron size range and above. Particles smaller than this are known as respirable dusts, which can lodge deep within the lungs and air sacs. This is the more dangerous type of particle pollution as chemicals from vehicle exhaust emissions are carried to the blood barrier by means of respirable particulates. Hence the need for a Hepa-Type™ sub micron particle filter.

The DACC™ activated charcoal layer within the Techno™ filter has excellent adsorption properties when it comes to SO2 and NO2 uptakes. With this capability and its capability of filtering VOC’s it is the best filter available in our range for dealing with the broad spectrum of pollutants commonly found in major cities across the globe.

For more Frequently Asked Questions,  go to Respro® Mask FAQ

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Pakistan’s urban air pollution off the charts

Posted on July 14, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

ISLAMABAD: “Pakistan’s urban air pollution is among the most severe in the world and it engenders significant damage to human health and the economy,” according to a newly-released report titled ‘Cleaning Pakistan’s Air’.

Released by the World Bank, the report calls upon the government to make urban air quality improvement a priority in the country’s policy agenda, noting that the issue has received little attention despite strong evidence indicating an urgent need to tackle pollution in major cities.

Current industrialisation, urbanisation and motorisation trends suggest that the air quality in Pakistan will only worsen over time unless targeted interventions are made in the short, medium and long term. In addition, the institutional and technical capacity of organisations responsible for air quality management needs to be strengthened, the report says.

Suggesting policy options to address the affects of outdoor air pollution, the report says that air pollution in Pakistan disproportionately affects the health and productivity of the poor, especially for the more than 35 per cent of Pakistanis who live in urban areas.

According to the report, more than 22,600 adult deaths in 2005 were caused in some way by urban air pollution. Outdoor air pollution alone causes more than 80,000 hospital admissions per year; nearly 8,000 cases of chronic bronchitis, and almost five million cases of lower respiratory cases in children under the age of five.

The report expresses concern over data that reveals that the harm caused by air pollution in Pakistan’s urban areas is the highest in South Asia region and exceeds most other high profile causes of mortality and morbidity in the country, including traffic-related accidents.

The report noted a significant expansion of environmental regulatory powers with the passage of Pakistan Environmental Protection Act and the issuance of national environmental policy, but noted that significant implementation gaps still exist. While the laws governing the environment are comparable to those in other South Asian nations, they suffer because of weak implementation and enforcement mechanisms. Neither the organisational structure of Climate Change Division nor that of Pak-EPA has a specific department responsible for air quality management, the report states.

According to the World Bank study, declining government attention to air quality management resulted in a significant paucity of reliable air quality data. The limited data that are available suggest that ambient concentrations of health-damaging particulate matters in Pakistan are on average more than four times above levels recommended in World Health Organisation guidelines.

Comparative risk assessments typically confirm that air pollution generates severe local impacts, particularly on human health. However, attention devoted to local pollution problems has declined rapidly in Pakistan to give precedence to climate change mitigation and other problems that have global impacts.

In the short term the primary emphasis should be on reducing levels of pollutants linked to higher morbidity and mortality from mobile sources. A second level of priority could be given to particulate matter, sulfur oxide and lead emissions from stationary sources. A fourth level of priority could be given to other traditional air pollutants such as carbon monoxide and greenhouse gases.In the medium term the government should consider adopting measures to reduce the country’s motorisation trend. The number of vehicles in Pakistan has increased from around 2 million to 10.6 million over the last 20 years, the report reveals.

Bus rapid transit can be used to transport increasingly larger volumes of people at moderately higher speeds even in very congested urban areas. While still substantial, the investments needed to develop and operate these systems are significantly lower than those of traditional mass transport systems, such as the underground metros.

Additional policies that are worth assessing in the medium term include traffic control, restricted circulation of private cars during high pollution episodes, urban planning and land use, establishment of high occupancy vehicle lanes, measures to improve traffic flows such as ‘green wave’ coordination of traffic signals, and improvement of infrastructures such as paving of roads.

Climate policies in the transportation sector include improving the efficiency of motorised vehicles and the transportation system; promotion of mass transit; policies to reduce congestion on roads, highways and in urban metropolitan centres; and promotion of non-motorised transport.

The report concludes that Pakistan’s severe urban air pollution problem will need to be tackled through a series of coordinated interventions to strengthen monitoring, build institutional capacity, bolster the regulatory framework and fill existing knowledge gaps.

via Pakistan’s urban air pollution off the charts: World Bank – Pakistan – DAWN.COM.

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Air quality: Big Blue smoke

Posted on July 11, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

RECENT headlines suggest that American technology firms are suffering from a backlash in China because of attempts in Washington to prosecute alleged Chinese cyberhackers. But one Western firm has found a way to make itself indispensable: by using its technology to tackle a big local problem.

This week IBM revealed that it has signed a ten-year research agreement with the government of Beijing to help the city’s fight against pollution. Chinese officials have promised to slash levels of PM2.5 a harmful air pollutant by a quarter by 2017. Under the accord, IBM’s researchers will harness the firm’s expertise in supercomputing, big-data analytics and weather forecasting to predict the levels of PM2.5 three days in advance. This will better enable the government to shut factories, restrict vehicles and alert citizens.

In this sectionThe flow of thingsPolar bearingsBig Blue smokeReprintsRelated topicsIndustriesTechnology industryInformation technology sectorChinaPoliticsIt is an ambitious effort, not least because Chinese authorities are hardly known for their willingness to share pollution data. In the past it was only pressure from the public and the American embassy, which tweets regular readings, that forced more openness.

There are a hundred or so reliable monitoring stations today in Beijing but more are needed. IBM plans to top up official data with more from weather satellites and sensors around the city. It is also open to crowdsourcing pollution readings. The firm’s China research team leads its global effort on social-media analytics. The question is how much openness Chinese officials will allow.

via Air quality: Big Blue smoke | The Economist.

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