Air Toxics are Decreasing in Rhode Island
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Generally, Rhode Island has made vast air quality improvements in recent years. One-hour exceedances of the ozone NAAQS have decreased over the past decade. Exceedances of the Eight-hour NAAQS for ozone also have exhibited a decreasing trend over the past five years, though not as strong as that of the One-hour NAAQS. Benzene levels are decreasing at a 30-35% rate at two measuring stations in Rhode Island, while Criteria Pollutants (Carbon monoxide, Nitrogen dioxide, Sulfur dioxide, and PM-10) are being measured at a smaller fraction of their respective NAAQS than they were a decade ago. Tighter regulation and increased environmental awareness are likely contributors to these trends.
In Rhode Island, air pollution comes from a variety of sources: stationary sources such as factories, power plants, and smaller sources such as dry cleaners and degreasing operations. Mobile sources include cars, buses, planes, trucks, and trains. Naturally occurring sources such as windblown dust also contribute to air pollution. Complicating an easy solution is the fact that each pollution source can emit a wide variety of pollutants.
The following links detail the decreases in Rhode Island's air toxics. This is by no means a comprehensive list of air toxics present in Rhode Island - rather, included here are are important toxics for which data over the past decade were both readily available and reasonably reliable.
National Air Quality Standards
Environmental Risk Home / Rhode Island Environmental Indicators Home