Particulate Matter Pollution

Particulate Matter, PM, or particle pollution, is a mixture of airborne solid particles and liquid droplets. Sources for PM can be both man-made and naturally occurring. Particles can also come directly from a single source, like a construction site or fire, or can be the result of complex chemical reactions among numerous sources, for example sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxide. Examples of PM include dust, smoke, soot, fly ash, aerosols, fumes, mists, and condensing vapors. PM can be further defined by particle size. Very small particles having a diameter less than 2.5 micrometers, known as PM2.5, are potentially harmful to human health since small particles can be inhaled deep into the lungs.

Escambia County PM Monitoring

Escambia County regulates recovered materials processing facilities, recycling facilities, resource recovery facilities, and volume reduction plants under applicable regulations of the code of ordinances and the land development code. New recycling and other similar facilities are currently required to obtain an Escambia County permit from the Development Services Department in order to legally operate. Air monitoring for particulate matter pollution is a county permit requirement for all of these facilities.

The Escambia County Water Quality and Land Management Division routinely conducts air monitoring at permitted recycling facilities. Emission levels for PM2.5 are not permitted to exceed a one-time hourly average of 35 µg/m3 (micrograms per cubic meter of air) at the property line downwind of the facility. The Escambia County Water Quality and Land Management Division also collects a 10 minute upwind average for comparison. Noise level measurements are also taken at both the upwind and downwind sampling locations. The criteria for the maximum permissible sound level for the facilities can be found in LDC Chapter 5, Article 9, Section 5-9.2.  Escambia County uses a handheld Dustrak DRX manufactured by TSI Instruments to perform the particulate monitoring and a calibrated multifunctional sound level meter for noise level monitoring.

Escambia County Particulate Monitoring Data

Resources

• U.S. EPA - Air Quality Planning and Standards
• Florida Department of Environmental Protection – Division of Air Resources Management
• CDC - Noise and Hearing Loss