Sustainability
Air Quality
Air quality indicators measure levels of environmental contaminants that present human health risks. Air pollutants contribute to numerous health and visual impairments such as asthma, heart disease, and regional haze. Ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO), and particulate matter (PM10--particles between 2.5 and 10 microns in size) are three of the six common air pollutants identified by the EPA as being critical to assessing environmental health of a place. Phoenix is listed as being in serious nonattainment status for PM10 and in nonattainment for Ozone (8-hour standard). In January 2005, the EPA reclassified Phoenix as being in attainment for carbon monoxide, as the region had not had an exceedance since 1999. However, maintenance monitoring must be continued until 2015.
Disclaimer
AirData reports are produced from a monthly extract of EPA's air pollution database, AQS. Data for this report were extracted on January 8, 2008. They represent the best information available to EPA from state agencies on that date. However, some values may be absent due to incomplete reporting, and some values subsequently may be changed due to quality assurance activities. The AQS database is updated daily by state and local organizations who own and submit the data. Please contact the pertinent state agency to report errors.
Readers are cautioned not to infer a qualitative ranking order of geographic areas based on AirData reports. Air pollution levels measured in the vicinity of a particular monitoring site may not be representative of the prevailing air quality of a county or urban area. Pollutants emitted from a particular source may have little impact on the immediate geographic area, and the amount of pollutants emitted does not indicate whether the source is complying with applicable regulations.
