AirParticlesandAirQuality

200EnvironmentalSciences

Category_____________
Introduction

AirQualityhaschangedovertimeanditisnowatopicthepopulationisconcerned

about.Dependingonthearea,pollutionexistsinacertainpercentageanditisexpectedthatit

willcontinuetoincrease.Thereisnowaneffortverymuchpresent(especiallyinurbanareas)

whichtriestoeliminateairpollutants.Airpollutionexistsinmanywaysandoneofthemost

commonissmog.Smog,forexample,isonekindofairpollutionthatresultsfromlargeamounts

ofcoalinanareaandiscausedbyamixtureofsmokeandsulfurdioxide.Thisphenomenonis

usuallyquiteprevalentinurbanareasorareaswhichareveryindustrializedorthosethatare

denselypopulated.InCalifornia,themostpollutedcitiesrankfromLosAngelesLongBeach

followedbyVisaliaPortervilleHanford,Bakersfield,FresnoMaderaandSacramentoRoseville.

TheseranksarebasedontheAQI(AirQualityIndex)whichisanindexforreportingairquality.

Itdeterminesthecleanlinessofanareausinganumberfrom0500,0beingbestand500being

worst.

Asairqualityisworsened,itaffectstheagricultureindustry.Scientificassessmentsof

agriculturalairquality,includingestimatesofemissionsandpotentialsequestrationof

greenhousegases,areanimportantemergingareaofenvironmentalsciencethatoffers

significantchallengestopolicyandregulatoryauthorities.Significantpollutantsmayinclude

particulates,whichareamixtureofextremelysmallairborneparticlesandliquiddroplets

(aerosols),whicharelinkedtorespiratorydiseaseinhumans.Thistopichasincreasedawareness

inconsumersaboutairqualityandhomelocationselection.

NeedforStudy
 AirQualityisaveryimportanttopicintheagriculturalbusiness.Agriculturalemissions

derivefrombothareaandpointsources.IntheUnitedStates,agriculturalemissionsplayan

importantroleinseveralatmosphericallymediatedprocessesofenvironmentalandpublichealth

concerns.Airqualityisatopicthattriestobemonitoredatthelocalleveltoensurethehealthof

thepopulation.Asmeasuresgetstricterandtheairgetscleaner,morelivesaresaved,whetherit

ishumanlivesorplantandanimallife.Cleanairjustpromoteshealthinallspecies.

ExperimentalDesign

IndependentVariable
:Areainwhichexperimentisdone

DependentVariable
:AirParticles,AirQuality

Control
:IndoorArea

Constants
:Vaseline,CartonSquares

SampleSize
:1x1inchsquares

NumberofRepetitions
:45

Hypothesis

Iftheairqualitytestisdoneinanurbanarea,thentherewillbemorevisibleparticlescollected

inthesample.

Methodology

1. Saveamilkcartontousefortheexperiment.Cleananddrythecartonthoroughlybefore

use.

2. Cutthecartonintofourflatpiecesbycuttingalongthesideseamsofthecarton.Cuteach

sideinto3squarepieces,eachpiecewillbeapproximately3incheslongand3inches

wide.Therewillhaveatotalof12squareswhenyouaredone.
3. Usingtheholepunch,punchaholeinonecornerofeachsquare.

4. Tieapieceofstringthroughtheholetomakealoopforhangingthesquareup,onatree

branchforexample.(Lengthisuptodiscretionofexperimenter)

5. Makeadatasheettorecordthelocationofthesquares,andwhatdatawillbecollected

fromthem.

6. Decideonfourlocations.(Goodlocationsare:backyard,abusystreetcorner,school,a

park,ashoppingcenter,aparkinglot,etc.)

7. Writethenameofeachlocationinthedatatable.Includethecrossstreets(Cedarand

SacramentoStreet),theaddress(1234MapleStreet)orthenameofthelocation(Tilden

ParkorValleyMall)inyourtable.

8. Usingablackpermanentmarker,drawa1inchby1inchboxinthecenterofthewhite

side(whatusedtobetheinsideofthecarton)ofeachsquare.

9. Writethenameofthelocationonthebottomofeachsquare,threesquareswillbeused

foreachlocation.

10. Ateachlocation,findaplacetohangupthreeofthecollectionsquares.Thesquarescan

hangfromatreebranch,signpost,lightpost,oranyothersafelandmark.

11. Beforehangingeachsquareup,spreadathinlayerofvaselineintheblackboxinthe

centerofeachsquarewithafinger.Hangupthecollectionsquare.

12. Leaveyourcollectionsquaresfor35days.Itisbesttoleavethemondayswhenthereis

norain,soifitisgoingtorain,collectthemevenifthesquareshavenotbeenleftoutfor

afullfivedays.

13. Afterhavewaitedthe35days,itistimetocollectthedatafromthesquares.
 14. Revisiteachlocation:bringdatatable,magnifyingglassandadigitalcamera.

15. Removethesquaresoneatatime.Eachtime,usemagnifyingglasstocountthenumber

ofvisibleparticlesstuckintheVaselineinsidetheboxedarea.Writethenumberinthe

datatable.

16. Takeapictureofthesquare.Ifthecamerahasamicrosettingforcloseups,thepictures

willturnoutbetter.

17. Proceedtothenextsquareand/orlocationuntilalldataiscollectedandthedatatableis

filledout.

18. Foreachlocationthreesetsofdatawillhavetobecollected,taketheaverageofthedata

togetabetterresult.Firstaddtogetherthethreecountsandwritetheanswerinthe

"TOTAL"box.Thendividethisnumberby3andwritetheanswerinthe"Average"box.

19. Makeagraphofyourdata.Makeabargraphbywritingascaleforthenumberof

particlesontheleftside(yaxis)andthenbydrawingabaruptothecorrectnumberof

particlesforeachlocation.Remembertolabeleachbarofyourgraph,ormakeacolor

key.

TablesandCharts

Area1 Area2 Area3 Area4

Height(in) 59 69 31 52

Thetableaboveshowstheheightsofthesamples.

Area1 Area2 Area3 Area4

Day1 0 0 0 0
 Day2 15 1 3 0

Day3 22 1 13 0

Day4 43 3 15 1

Thetableaboveshowsthedifferentparticlesperareacollecteddaily.
Thegraphbelowshowsthedifferentheightsatwhicheachsamplewaslocated.

Thegraphaboveshowstheparticlescollectedperarea.
SummaryofData

Duringtheexperiment,4areaswerechoseninordertomeasuretheairqualityofeach

areaandcomparetheresultsoftheareas.Eachsamplewasplacedatdifferentheightsduetothe

factthatthereweresomelimitationsaccordingtothespacewherethesamplewasput.Also,

theseheightswererecordedinordertoviewthedifferingresultsandtoseeiftheheightwould

makeanydifference.Theprojecthadonetrial.Thefourareaschosenvariedinsurroundings.

Onewasplacedindoorswhiletheotherthreewereplacedinhorsestables,aharvestingfield,and

inabackyard.

AccordingtothedatatheareawiththemostparticlesstucktothevaselinewasArea1.

Thenumberofparticlesineachsquarewasrecordeddailyforthedurationof4days.However,

thesampleshadtoberemovedduetothefactthattheweatherwasnotgoingtobeconvenient

forthecontinuanceoftheprojectbecausetherainwouldwashoffthevaselineandallthedata

wouldbelost.Theaverageofthedatacametobe15.5particlesperareafromthedatacollected

thelastdayoftheproject.Also,insomeareas,theparticlesremainedconstantuntilthelastday.

Conclusion

Thedataportrayedaboveshowsthedifferentareastestedandthedifferentnumberof

particlescollectedfromeachsite.Thenumberofvisibleparticleswerecounteddailyandwere

recorded.Thesamplesizesweremeasuredandremainedconstantforeveryareathatwasbeing

tested.Inthesamples,thecartonintendedtobeusedcouldnotbeusedduetothefactthatmost

peopledonotconsumemilkincartonssothecollectionsquaresweremadefromahardposter

paper.
 Thehypothesisstatesthattheareawiththemostpollutionwouldendupbeingtheone

withthesamplethathadthemostparticles.Inthiscase,theareathatprovedtohavethemost

particleswasthebackyardinaRomolandhouse.Thisareaissurroundedbytreesandtheroads

arenotpaved.Thiscouldalsobeadeterminantofhowmanyparticlesareproducedperarea.

Theothersampleswereputindoorsinahouseandinhorsestablesandaharvestingfield.The

datashowsthatalltheotheronesprovedtocollectsignificantlylessparticles.Asaresult,the

mostpollutedareaaccordingtothedataseemstobetheRomolandbackyardfollowedbythe

harvestingfieldandthenthehorsestablesandfinallytheindoorroom.

Recommendations

Somerecommendationsforfuturetrialsoftheprojectcouldbetomaintainthesizeofthe

cartonused(3x3in)andplacethe1x1inchsquareinthecenter.Duringthisproject,the

experimentersimplyspreadasmuchvaselineinthesquareinchasseemednecessary,butfor

futureprojectsthevaselinecouldbemeasuredinordertomakesurethatthesameamountof

vaselineisineachsquare.Thiswouldallowformoreaccurateresultsandnotmeanthatthe

amountofvaselineisrestrainingtheexperimentfromservingitsfullpurpose.Also,thisproject

couldprobablybedoneinmultipletrialsandindifferentperiodsoftimeinordertoseethe

differenceinseason.Maintainingconstantmostoftheprojectwouldallowformoreaccurate

results.However,ifthatisnotpossible,thatneedstobenoted.

 WorksCited

Grossman,S.(2014,April30).TheseArethe10MostPollutedCitiesIntheU.S.Retrieved

November17,2014,from
http://time.com/82505/mostpollutedcitiesinamerica/

P.Aneja,V.,H.Schlesinger,W.,&Erisman,J.(2009,May7).EffectsofAgricultureuponthe

AirQualityandClimate:Research,Policy,andRegulations.RetrievedNovember17,

2014,from
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es8024403

Fabian,E.(n.d.).AirQualityandAnimalAgriculture:TheBasicsAgricultureandEnvironment

Center(PennStateCollegeofAgSciences).RetrievedNovember17,2014,from

http://agsci.psu.edu/aec/factsheets/airqualityandanimalagriculturethebasics

AirQualityIndex(AQI)AGuidetoAirQualityandYourHealth.(n.d.).

RetrievedNovember17,2014,from
http://airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=aqibasics.aqi

Smog.(n.d.).RetrievedNovember17,2014,from

http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/s/smog.htm