Page 88 - Fundamentals of Air Pollution 3E

Questions 59

of the line labeled "fluorosis." Long-term vegetation responses—decreased
yield of fruit and forest—and long-term material responses—corrosion,
soiling, and material deterioration—are shown on the chart as having essen-
tially the same response characteristics as human chronic respiratory dis-
ease and lung cancer.
The relationship of these response curves to ambient air quality is shown
by lines A, B, and C, which represent the maximum or any other chose
percentile line from a display such as Fig. 4-10, which shows actual air
quality. Where the air quality is poor (line A), essentially all the adverse
effects displayed will occur. Where the air quality is good (line C), most
of the intermediate and long-term adverse effects displayed will not occur.
Where the air quality is between good and poor, some of the intermediate
and long-term adverse effects will occur, but in an attenuated form com-
pared with those of poor air quality. These concepts will be referred to
later in this text when air quality standards are discussed.

D. Air Quality Indexes
Air quality indexes have been devised for categorizing the air quality
measurements of several individual pollutants by one composite number.
The index used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is called the
Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) (Table 4-6).

REFERENCE

1. Samet, J. M., and Spengler, J. D. (eds), "Indoor Air Pollution: A Health Perspective,
Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1991,

SUGGESTED READING

Benedick, R. E., "Ozone Diplomacy: New Directions in Safeguarding the Planet." Harvard
University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1991.
Brooks, B. O., and Davis, W. F., "Understanding Indoor Air Quality." CRC Press, Boca
Raton, FL, 1992.
Council on Environmental Quality, Annual Reports. Washington, DC, 1984-1992.

QUESTIONS

1. How does the range of concentrations of air pollutants of concern to the industrial hygienist
differ from that of concern to the air pollution specialist? To what extent are air sampling
and analytical methods in factories and in the ambient air the same or different?