Air & Waste Management Association (A&WMA) articles

Two important factors that affect in-stack opacity—light extinction by emitted particles and that by water moisture after a flue gas desulfurization (FGD) unit—are investigated. The mass light extinction coefficients for particles and water moisture, kp and kw, respectively, were determined using the Lambert-Beer law of opacity with a nonlinear least-squares regression method. The estimated kp and kw values vary from 0.199 to 0.316 m2/g and 0.000345 to 0.000426 m2/g, respectively,

More than half of the world’s population lives in cities, and their populations are rapidly increasing. Information on vertical and diurnal characterizations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in urban areas with heavy ambient air pollution can help further understand the impact of ambient VOCs on the local urban environment. This study characterized vertical and diurnal variations in VOCs at 2, 13, 32, 58, and 111 m during four daily time periods (7:00 to 9:00 a.m., 12:00 to 2:00 p.m

One of the great technological advancements of the 20th century has been the worldwide development of information access and communications through electronic technology. With the introduction of new technologies inevitably comes the issue of the management of discarded hardware. The growth of waste and recyclable material from the electronics and electricity age has been remarkable. The contemporary electronics and electrical waste (e-waste) management scope includes televisions, person

Last year, we celebrated the 40th anniversary of the U.S. Clean Air Act (CAA) and the 20th anniversary of the 1990 Amendments to the CAA. The CAA has been a huge success.

From 1990 to 2008, emissions of six common pollutants were down 41%, while gross domestic product grew 64%. Emissions of volatile organic compounds dropped 31%, carbon monoxide dropped 46%, and sulfur dioxide dropped 51%. Lead levels in ambient air are 92% lower today than in 1980 and nearly the entire country is

Of the many sources of urban greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, solid waste is the only one for which management decisions are undertaken primarily by municipal governments themselves and is hence often the largest component of cities’ corporate inventories. It is essential that decision-makers select an appropriate quantification methodology and have an appreciation of methodological strengths and shortcomings. This work compares four different waste emissions quantification methods, incl

Sustainable water resource management is the next major global target that will lead corporations, governments, and others to develop system-wide solutions for water, public health, carbon, and energy use. A standardized and certifiable water footprint methodology is necessary to measure, assess, and reduce water usage impacts on humans and the environment. This discussion addresses the issues, risks, and methodologies leading the development of sustainable water management programs.

The influence of sea-land breezes (SLBs) on the spatial distribution and temporal variation of particulate matter (PM) in the atmosphere was investigated over coastal Taiwan. PM was simultaneously sampled at inland and offshore locations during three intensive sampling periods. The intensive PM sampling protocol was continuously conducted over a 48-hr period. During this time, PM2.5 and PM2.5–10 (PM with aerodynamic diameters _2.5 _m and between 2.5 and 10 _m, respectively) were simulta

While long-lived greenhouse gases—particularly carbon dioxide (CO2)—continue to occupy center stage in international climate negotiations, another group of pollutants has been gaining attention among scientists and policy-makers: the so-called “short-lived climate forcers,” including black carbon and ozone. These pollutants have been regulated in the United States for decades due to their impacts on air quality, but their impacts on climate have only recently become a

The science of particulate air pollution and health has a long, rich, and complex history. More detailed versions of various aspects of this history can be found elsewhere.1-5 A simple stylized version of this history may suggest that, until the early to mid-1900s, the health effects of air pollution were largely a matter of instinctive observations, suspicion, and superstition. In fact, one of the earliest and ultimately most acclaimed successes of environmental epidemiology was John Snow&rs

The Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services, a local air agency covering the Greater Cincinnati Area in Southwest Ohio, has experienced many successes and failures obtaining grant money to fund school bus retrofits. However, seven years of persistent work has paid-off enormously.

The adverse health effects of diesel exhaust were making national headlines in the early 2000s. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Health Assessment Document for Diesel Engine