Santa Monica Airport Report: Ultrafine Particulates and Black Carbon Levels

From the Santa Monica Daily Press:

Ultrafine particulates and black carbon levels in the neighborhood surrounding the Santa Monica Airport dropped significantly during a four-day period in 2010 when all airport activities were suspended for repaving, according to a new study by the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

The study was conducted over the course of approximately three weeks surrounding the airport’s full closure between Sept. 19 and Sept. 24, 2010 for repaving of the runway, which was mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration.

According to the study, concentration of ultrafine particles at the East Tarmac site before and after the repaving project were about 12 to 17 times more elevated than the highest spike recorded when the airport was shut down.

The back yard site showed considerably less dramatic reductions, with levels before and after the shut down only reaching four to seven times as high as the highest reading when no planes were landing or taking off from the airport.

Although the study could quantify the peaks and troughs in ultrafine particles and black carbon, the substances are mostly unregulated by the federal government, and there aren’t many studies about their effects on human health.

Those effects aren’t a mystery to Janice Nolen.

“Well, they can kill people,” said Nolen, the assistant vice president for national policy and advocacy for the American Lung Association (ALA).

Continue reading the full article at the SMDP by clicking here.

Thanks to Shane for pointing this out.