AIR

Ambient Air Monitoring Program

AMBIENT AIR MONITORING OPERATIONS 

Ambient Air Monitoring operations are the responsibility of the DEQ Air Planning and Assessment Division, Air Field Services Section. The Air Field Services Section maintains a statewide monitoring network, made up of stationary Ambient Air Monitoring stations. From these sites, Analysis personnel collect direct measurements of air pollutant concentrations, analyze, and interpret the data. The data collected is used to track trends in air quality and to determine compliance with National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Monitoring sites contain specialized instruments to measure concentrations of the pollutants ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, lead, and respirable particulate matter, in accordance with federal air monitoring requirements. The Air Field Services Section also measures concentrations of volatile organic compounds at selected sites throughout Louisiana.

The Section also reports daily Air Quality Forecasts and readings to the public in the following areas: Baton Rouge, Alexandria, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Monroe, New Orleans, Shreveport, and Thibodaux. DEQ provides the information to radio and television news and to local newspapers, who report the air quality reading in a short air quality statement included in the daily weather report mainly during ozone season.  Hourly Air Quality readings and the daily Air Quality Forecast are also available on this web site.  

 

National Ambient Air Quality Standards

 

Pollutant Primary / Secondary Averaging Time Level Form Attainment Status
Carbon Monoxide

Primary

8 - hour

1 - hour

9ppm

35 ppm

Not to be exceeded more than once per year Attainment
Lead Primary and Secondary Rolling 3 month average 0.15 µg/m3 Not to be exceeded Attainment

Nitrogen Dioxide

Primary

Primary and Secondary

1 - hour

Annual

100 ppb

53 ppb

98th percentile, averaged over 3 years

Annual Mean

Attainment
Ozone

Primary and Secondary

8 - hour

0.070 ppm

Annual fourth-highest daily maximum 8-hour concentration averaged over 3 years

Attainment

 

Particle Pollution PM2.5

Primary                       Secondary

 

Primary and Secondary

Annual

 

 

24-hour

9.0 µg/m3

15.0 µg/m3

 

35.0 µg/m3

Annual Mean averaged over three years

 

 

98th percentile, averaged over three years

Attainment
Particle Pollution PM10

Primary and Secondary

24 - hour

150 µg/m3

Not to be exceeded more than once per year on average over three years

Attainment

 

Sulfur Dioxide

Primary

 

Second

1 - hour

 

3 - hour

75 ppb

 

0.5 ppm

99th percentile of 1-hour daily maximum concentrations averaged over three years

 

Not to be exceeded more than once per year

Non-Attainment for St. Bernard Parish only