Urban Air Monitoring

Filter being weighed to determine particulate matter captured from urban air.

Ion chromatography is used to determine ionic species present in air.

A quality assurance program is operated by the laboratory to support the PM2.5 Chemical Speciation Air Monitoring Network.
The PM2.5 air monitoring network, managed by Office of Air Quality Planning & Standards (OAQPS), collects data on the levels
and composition of ultra fine particulate matter in urban areas across the nation. NAREL performs a variety of quality assurance
tasks to ensure the integrity and validity of the data collected by the network. These tasks include oversight of contractor
laboratories through on-site audits, analysis of routine quality assurance samples, and performance of evaluation samples.

NAREL, in conjunction with the Radiation and Indoor Environments National Laboratory in Las Vegas, also provides quality
assurance support to the field activities associated with the network. Field personnel receive training on air samplers, field audits
are conducted, and quality assurance samples are collected and analyzed. All of these activities ensure that decisions made by
the Agency regarding ultra fine particulatematter are based on data of the highest quality.

Further information can be found in the following documents:

• Anion Analysis for the PM2.5 Chemical Speciation QA Program
  [PDF File, 144KB, 17 Pages]



• Cation Analysis For The PM2.5 Chemical Speciation QA Program
  [PDF File, 368KB, 25 Pages]
  
  
• Carbon Analysis For The PM2.5 Chemical Speciation QA Program
  [PDF File, 428KB, 25 Pages]

 
• Gravimetric Mass Analysis For The PM2.5 Chemical Speciation QA Program
  [PDF File, 114KB, 16 Pages]

Note: The Adobe Acrobat Reader , a free software system, will be needed to read documents in Portable Document Format (PDF).
More information on PDF files can be found on the PDF information page.