"Smaller airports pose bigger pollution threat than suspected"

["Stephen Irwin, M.S., A.A.E., I.A.P." <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Smaller airports pose bigger pollution threat than suspected 
The Times of India


WASHINGTON - Air pollution poses a largely overlooked threat to people
living near smaller regional airports, says a new study.  

The study, one of a handful to examine airborne pollutants near regional
airports, suggests that officials should heed these overlooked emissions,
posing potential health problems for locals. 

The scientists measured a range of air pollutants near a general aviation
airport for private planes and corporate jets in Southern California in the
first half of 2008. 

They found that emissions of so-called ultrafine particles, less than
1/500th width of a human hair, were significantly elevated when compared to
background pollution levels. 

Suzanne Paulson, atmospheric scientist at the University of California (UC),
and colleagues noted that scientists have known that aircraft emissions
during takeoffs and landings can seriously impact air quality near major
airports. 

However, researchers know little about the impact of such emissions at
general aviation or regional airports, which tend to be located closer to
residential neighbourhoods than major airports, the article notes. 

Levels of these pollutants were up to 10 times higher at a downwind distance
from the airport equal to about one football field and as much as 2.5 times
higher at a distance equal to about six football fields, says an American
Chemical Society (ACS) release. 

The study appears online in ACS' Environmental Science & Technology.

"Aircraft Emission Impacts in a Neighborhood Adjacent to a General Aviation
Airport in Southern California"
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/es900975f



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