User:AAlfonsoZuniga/sandbox

Source list for Ambient Air Quality:
 * www.epa.gov/criteria-air-pollutants/naaqs-table
 * www.who.int/airpollution/ambient/pollutants/en/
 * www.britannica.com/.../National-Ambient-Air-Quality-Standards-United-States
 * www.environment.gov.au/protection/air-quality/air-quality-standards
 * https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10473289.1995.10467369
 * http://www.aulibrary.au.edu/multim1/ABAC_Pub/Au-Journal-of-Technology/v4-n4-1.pdf
 * https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3155/1047-3289.57.6.652
 * https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1026428214799
 * Air Quality Guidelines: Global Update 2005

Ambient air quality criteria or standards are concentrations of pollutants in the air including both outdoor and indoor (IAQ). The criteria listed are specified for a variety of reasons including for the protection of human health, buildings, crops, vegetation, ecosystems, as well as for planning and other purposes. There is no internationally accepted definition but usually "standards" have some legal or enforcement aspect, whereas "guidelines" may not be backed by laws. "Criteria/criterion" can be used as a generic term to cover standards and guidelines.

Various organisations have proposed criteria e.g. WHO, EU, US EPA and they are often similar - but not always, even if they are proposed for the same purpose (e.g. the protection of human health).

Specifying the Criteria Important for any numerical standard is to ensure that averaging period, unit, and statistical measure are given (e.g. 98th percentile of hourly means measured over a calendar year in micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3)). Without all of these three aspects the criterion is confusing and meaningless. Criteria can be set in different units (e.g. µg/m3, parts per billion by volume (ppbv), parts per billion by mass (ppb(mass)), parts per million (ppm)) and it is possible to convert between all of these units if you know the molecular mass of the pollutant and the temperature at which you want to convert. Different temperatures are used throughout the world and so it is important to state the temperature of conversion (if relevant). Most pollutants have ambient criteria in the parts per billion (ppb)/µg/m3 range. Some have smaller units (e.g. dioxins are often in pico grams /m3); others have larger units (e.g. carbon monoxide (CO) in mg/m3). Particle pollution (e.g. PM10, PM2.5) is specified in units of mass (e.g. µg/m3) and not in units of volume (ppmv).

In the EU, the limits are specified in Directive 2008/50/EC.

The Criteria Below is a list of available criteria around the world. There is a lot of cross referencing (e.g. the International Finance Corp (IFC)) has their own criteria but they are a copy of those specified by the WHO. It is important to check the reference as not all the related caveats/controlling parameters of the criterion can be put in the table. Also some criteria require certain specific ways of monitoring to demonstrate compliance.

Pollutant	Abbr. Value	Units	Averaging Period	Statistical Measure	# exceedences	Organization	Status	Applicability	Notes Nitrogen dioxide	NO2	40	µg/m3	Annual*	Mean	None	WHO [1]	Guideline	Global Nitrogen dioxide	NO2	30	µg/m3	Annual	Mean	None	India	Legal	India - Ecologically sensitive areas	Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) Nitrogen dioxide	NO2	40	µg/m3	Annual	Mean	None	EU [2]	Limit Value	EU Member States	Calendar Year Nitrogen dioxide	NO2	40	µg/m3	Annual	Mean	None	India	Legal	India	Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) Nitrogen dioxide	NO2	53	ppb	Annual	Mean	None	US EPA	Legal	United States	NAAQS Nitrogen dioxide	NO2	80	µg/m3	24 hour** Mean	None	India	Legal	India	Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) Nitrogen dioxide	NO2	100	µg/m3	Annual	Yrly mean of daily	None	SCENR [3]	Legal	Qatar	Calendar Year Nitrogen dioxide	NO2	100	ppb	1 hour	98% of 1-hour daily maximum concentrations, averaged over 3 years	None	US EPA	Legal	United States	NAAQS Nitrogen dioxide	NO2	100	µg/m3	Daily	Mean		New Zealand Ministry for the Environment[4]	Guideline	New Zealand	Calendar Year Nitrogen dioxide	NO2	113	µg/m3	Daily	Daily mean of hourly	None	Japanese Ministry of Environment [5]	Legal	Japan	Quoted as 0.06 ppm Nitrogen dioxide	NO2	113	µg/m3	Daily	Daily mean of hourly	None	Japanese Ministry of Environment [5]	Legal	Japan	Quoted as 0.06 ppm Nitrogen dioxide	NO2	150	µg/m3	Daily	99.7%ile	1 day/yr	SCENR [3]	Legal	Qatar	Calendar Year Nitrogen dioxide	NO2	100	ppb	1 hour	98% of 1-hour daily maximum concentrations, averaged over 3 years	None	US EPA	Legal	United States	NAAQS Nitrogen dioxide       NO2     200     µg/m3   Annual  Mean    None    WHO [1]	Guideline	Global Nitrogen dioxide	NO2	200	µg/m3	1 hour	99.79%ile	18 hrs/yr	EU [2]	Limit value	EU Member States	Calendar Year Nitrogen dioxide	NO2	200	µg/m3	1 hour	Mean	9/yr	New Zealand Ministry for the Environment[6]	Legal	New Zealand	Calendar Year Nitrogen dioxide	NO2	400	µg/m3	1 hour	99.7%ile	26 hrs/yr	SCENR [3]	Legal	Qatar	Calendar Year Pollutant	Abbr. Value	Units	Averaging Period	Statistical Measure	# exceedences	Organisation	Status	Applicability	Notes Sulphur dioxide	SO2	75	ppb	1 hour	99% of 1-hour daily maximum concentrations, averaged over 3 years	None	US EPA	Legal	United States* Sulphur dioxide	SO2	20	µg/m3	Annual	Mean	India	Legal	India - Ecologically sensitive areas	Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) Sulphur dioxide	SO2	0.5	ppm	3 hours	Mean	No more than once per year	US EPA	Legal	United States Sulphur dioxide	SO2	125	µg/m3	24 hour	Any 24 hour period	None	WHO [1]	Interim Target (IT) 1	Global	Was the guideline in 2000 Sulphur dioxide	SO2	50	µg/m3	24 hour	Any 24 hour period	None	WHO [1]	Interim Target (IT) 2	Global	Calendar Year (1 Jan - 31 Dec) Sulphur dioxide	SO2	125	µg/m3	24 hour	Any 24 hour mean	None	WHO [1]	Interim Target (IT) 1	Global Sulphur dioxide	SO2	50	µg/m3	24 hour	Any 24 hour mean	None	WHO [1]	Interim Target (IT) 2	Global Sulphur dioxide	SO2	50	µg/m3	Annual	Mean	India	Legal	India	Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) Sulphur dioxide	SO2	80	µg/m3	Annual	Mean	India	Legal	India	Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) Sulphur dioxide	SO2	20	µg/m3	24 hour	Any 24 hour mean	None	WHO [1]	Guideline	Global Sulphur dioxide	SO2	500	µg/m3	10 minute	Any 10 minute mean	None	WHO [1]	Guideline	Global Sulphur dioxide	SO2	1300	µg/m3	1 hour	99.99%ile	1 hr/year	Ras Laffan	Legal	Qatar	Calendar Year Sulphur dioxide	SO2	350	µg/m3	1 hour	Mean	9/yr	New Zealand Min.for Environment[6]	Legal	New Zealand Sulphur dioxide	SO2	570	µg/m3	1 hour	Mean	None	New Zealand Ministry for the Environment[6]	Legal	New Zealand Sulphur dioxide	SO2	120	µg/m3	24 hour	Average		New Zealand Ministry for the Environment[7]	Guideline	New Zealand

Pollutant	Abbr. Value	Units	Averaging Period	Statistical Measure	# exceedences	Organisation	Status	Applicability	Notes Coarse Particulate Matter	PM10	20	µg/m3	Annual	None	WHO [1]	Guideline	Global Coarse Particulate Matter      PM10    50      µg/m3	24 hour	Mean    None    WHO [1]  Guideline     Global Coarse Particulate Matter      PM10    60      µg/m3   Annual  Mean    None    Legal	India	Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) Coarse Particulate Matter      PM10    10      µg/m3   24 hour  Mean    None    Legal	India	Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) Coarse Particulate Matter	PM10	50	µg/m3	24 hour	Mean	1/yr	New Zealand Ministry for the Environment[6]	Legal	New Zealand Fine Particulate Matter	PM2.5	25	µg/m3	24 hour	Any 24 hr mean	None	WHO [1]	Guideline	Global Fine Particulate Matter	PM2.5	75	µg/m3	24 hour	Any 24 hr mean	None	WHO [1]	Interim target (IT) 1	Global Fine Particulate Matter	PM2.5	50	µg/m3	24 hour	Any 24 hr mean	None	WHO [1]	Interim target (IT) 2	Global Fine Particulate Matter PM2.5  40      µg/m3   Annual  Mean    None    Legal	India	Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) Fine Particulate Matter PM2.5  60      µg/m3   24 hour  Mean    None    Legal	India	Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) Fine Particulate Matter	PM2.5	37.5	µg/m3	24 hour	Any 24 hr mean	None	WHO [1]	Interim target (IT) 3	Global Fine Particulate Matter PM2.5	10	µg/m3	Annual	Mean	None	WHO [1]	Guideline	Global Fine Particulate Matter	PM2.5	35	µg/m3	Annual	Mean	None	WHO [1]	Interim target (IT) 1	Global Fine Particulate Matter	PM2.5	25	µg/m3	Annual	Mean	None	WHO [1]	Interim target (IT) 2	Global Fine Particulate Matter	PM2.5	15	µg/m3	Annual	Mean	None	WHO [1]	Interim target (IT) 3	Global Pollutant	Abbr. Value	Units	Averaging Period	Statistical Measure	# exceedences	Organisation	Status	Applicability	Notes Ozone	O3	100	µg/m3	8 hours	Any 8 hour mean	None	WHO [1]	Guideline	Global Ozone	O3	160	µg/m3	8 hours	Any 8 hour mean	None	WHO [1]	Interim target	Global Ozone  O3      100     µg/m3   8 hours  Mean    None    Legal	India	Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) Ozone  O3      180     µg/m3   1 hours  Mean    None    Legal	India	Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) Ozone	O3	235	µg/m3	1 hour	99.9%	8 hrs/yr	SCENR [3]	Legal	Qatar	Calendar Year Ozone	O3	120	µg/m3	8 hours	99.8%	2x8hrs/yr	SCENR [3]	Legal	Qatar	Calendar Year Ozone	O3	150	µg/m3	1 hour	Mean	None	New Zealand Ministry for the Environment[6]	Legal	New Zealand Pollutant	Abbr. Value	Units	Averaging Period	Statistical Measure	# exceedences	Organisation	Status	Applicability	Notes Carbon monoxide	CO	40000	µg/m3	1 hour	Maximum	None	SCENR [3]	Legal	Qatar	Calendar Year Carbon monoxide	CO	10000	µg/m3	8 hour	Maximum	None	SCENR [3]	Legal	Qatar	Calendar Year Carbon monoxide	CO	10	µg/m3	8 hour	Running mean	1/yr	New Zealand Ministry for the Environment[6]	Legal	New Zealand Carbon monoxide CO     02     mg/m3   8 hours  Mean    None    Legal	India	Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) Carbon monoxide CO     04     mg/m3   1 hours  Mean    None    Legal	India	Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)

Footnote
 * Annual arithmetic mean of minimum 104 measurements in a year at a particular site taken twice a week 24 hourly at uniforms
 * 24/8/1 hourly monitored values, as applicable, shall be complied with 98% of the time, they may exceed the limits but not on two consecutive days of monitoring.

References Air quality guidelines - global update 2005 www.who.int/phe/health_topics/outdoorair/outdoorair_aqg/en/ http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/69477/WHO_SDE_PHE_OEH_06.02_eng.pdf;jsessionid=7F199E80522AF32706326D5DA87B8B87?sequence=1 DIRECTIVE 2008/50/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 21 May 2008 on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32008L0050 Supreme Council for Environment and Natural Resources, Executive Bye-law for the Environment Protection Law Issued via the Decree Law No. 30 for the Year 2002, Annex 3" "Nitrogen dioxide | Ministry for the Environment". www.mfe.govt.nz. Retrieved 2017-04-05. Japanese Ministry of Environment, Environmental Quality Standards - Air Quality https://www.env.go.jp/en/air/aq/aq.html "Resource Management (National Environmental Standards for Air Quality) Regulations 2004 (SR 2004/309) (as at 17 October 2014) – New Zealand Legislation". www.legislation.govt.nz. Retrieved 2017-04-05. "Ambient Air Quality Guidelines" (PDF). New Zealand Ministry for the Environment. 2002.