3.4. SR 08-25-1997 - Laserfiche WebLink

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PROJECT DESCRIPTION OBJECTIVES The MPCA's Statewide Air Toxics Monitoring Study which will be conducted in commulaities throughout Minnesota has four major objectives. The objectiveS are to: 1. Characterize ambient air concentrations and deposition rateS of VOCs and particulate metals in rural and urban/suburban atmospheres and their seasonal variation; 2. Compare concentrations ofspecifi¢'VOCs and particulate metals at nnal and urban/suburban siteS with: a. other rural and urban/suburban areas in a similar part of the state; and' b. other rural and m'bau/suburban areas in a different part of the state. 3. Provide a meam for prioritizing and planning future work and sampling in a more in- depth and pollutant-specific and/or source specific basis in local areas. 4. Provide data for a preliminary screening assessment of potential health and environmental risks fi'om exposure to selected VOCs and particulate metals. STUDY RESULTS EXPECTED Many toxic air pollutants, which are emitted by a variety of point, area, and mobile sources, are present in the atmosphere at part-per-billion levels or below. A common assumption is that exposure, to these toxic air pollutants in general is lower in small towns and rural areas than it is in larger cities and metropolitan areas. The Statewide Air Toxics Monitoring Study will collect baseline data for ambient air concentrations of VOCs and particulate metal_~ that people are being exposed to in various locations in the state and provide a means of testing this general assumption. The MPCA cun'ently has ambient air' concentration data for specific VOCs in a few locations in the Twin Cities MetropOlitan area. There is, however, a general lack of ambient air data for most toxic air pollutants in the majority of rural and urbau/~uburban settings in Minnesota. Data collected in th[q study will provide MPCA with baseline information in particular communities.so that future changes in ambient air concentrations of specific toxic air pollutants can be more readily 'identified. An equal amount of sampling is planned to be conducted in all areas of the state. The Twin CitieS Metropolitan area will be included in the study became of the large population that resideS in the 7-county area (Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Scott, Ramsey, and Washignton Counties). Including the Twin Cities Metropolitan area in the study will allow the M~CA.to compare data collected in the largest metropolitan area in the state with data collected in less populated areas. These comparisons will provide a benchmark for assessing exposure to toxic air