BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Particulate pollution in the Lehigh Valley is highest near warehouses and highways, the latest data from a $100,000 Lehigh Valley air monitoring project shows.
“It is important to remember that these are very preliminary measurements over a very short period of time, just over two weeks,” according to a February project update. “These calculations are primarily done to assess whether we are getting data that is consistent with what would be expected if truck traffic had a locally significant impact on air quality. .”
Lehigh Valley Breathes, a year-long project, aims to monitor air quality in emissions from trucking and warehouses. As part of the initiative, 40 PurpleAir monitors will be installed. So far, 22 have appeared on the project’s online dashboard, the Shiny App.
These intermediate measurements help ensure that you have placed monitors in enough different locations to collect data relevant to your project objectives.
Lehigh Valley Breath, February 2024 Update
“We will not report any conclusions or recommendations until we have completed that full cycle and have had time to analyze the entire data,” officials said in an update. “These intermediate measurements help us ensure we are placing monitors in enough different locations to collect data relevant to our project objectives.”
warehouse, highway
The update said two weeks of sampling of data collected by the project showed variations between locations and air quality across the region.
Officials said the highest concentrations of PM2.5 were recorded near both warehouses and highways. However, monitors installed in rural areas with heavy truck traffic produced higher readings than in urban corridor areas near warehouses.
Molly Bilinski
/
Lehigh Valley News.com
PM 2.5 are particles too small to see with the naked eye, but they are made up of a mixture of chemicals that can penetrate deep into the lungs and cause health problems. They are measured in micrograms per cubic meter, or µg/m3.
According to the data, concentrations at monitoring sites near warehouses and highways were recorded at 9.7 and 7.8 μg/m3, respectively.
“In contrast, urban corridor locations close to warehouses but far from highways measured only 7.1 μg/m3 on average, and background urban corridor locations close to both warehouses and highway traffic measured “Only 6.6 μg/m3 was measured during this same period,” according to the update.
The average level of PM 2.5 measured at a rural monitor with heavy truck traffic was 7.5 μg/m3, while at an urban background site located in a park away from traffic and warehouses it was 6.6 μg/m3.
The World Health Organization recommends that the average annual concentration of PM 2.5 should not exceed 5 μg/m3.
“A dramatic difference”
In addition to the two-week data, officials also released data collected over a longer period of time from an air quality monitor at Reaser Lake in Linn Township, Lehigh County.
Officials say the monitor will not appear on the Shiny app because there is no Wi-Fi access. That data is collected on an SD card and manually transferred to a database.
The data is “the most dramatic difference yet,” officials said.
According to the latest information, “the surveillance had been in place for a much longer time.” “The average PM2.5 in Rieser Lake from September 30, 2023 to January 24, 2024 was 3.6 μg/m3, which is even lower than the annual average concentration of 5 μg/m3 recommended by the World Health Organization. .
“Other monitors that have been in place for the same period of time have much higher average values.”
They include:
- Lehi IP1: 8.3 g/m3 – Urban corridors, areas with low traffic volume, not close to highways
- Charter Arts SS: 9.6 g/m3 – Urban corridors, high traffic areas not close to highways
- Heller Town-BIP-78: 9.3 g/m3 – urban corridors, near warehouses
- Lower mount vessel SB: 7.6 g/m3 – rural, close to roads, heavy traffic
For more information, visit the Lehigh Valley Breeze website in Lehigh or Northampton County.
