BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Almost six months into the Lehigh Valley’s $100,000 air monitoring project, researchers have a preliminary finding.
Air quality varies based on location.
“One of the questions the LV Breathes project is designed to answer is, ‘Are there areas in the counties that suffer disproportionately from air pollution?’” according to the January project update, posted Monday.
“This preliminary analysis would indicate that that is an appropriate question to ask and that the data we are collecting will likely lead to an accurate answer.”
Twenty-seven air quality monitors so far have been placed for Lehigh Valley Breathes, a Valley-wide, year-long effort to monitor air quality amid emissions from trucking and warehousing. As part of the effort, 40 PurpleAir monitors are slated to be installed.
Poor air quality is driving residents away, officials argue, and the monitoring project will give leaders data to improve the air and combat further issues.
Residents are scheduled to get monthly updates on the year-long project, but none was posted for December.
Higher levels at roads, warehouses
Preliminary data analysis shows variation in PM2.5 levels based on geographic location, officials said in the most recent update.
PM 2.5 are particles so small that they’re invisible to the naked eye, but are made up of a mix of chemicals that can get deep into the lungs and can cause health problems.
“Additionally, for the months of September through November, our preliminary analysis of existing monitors shows that there are higher levels of average PM2.5 in areas that are proximate to roadways and warehouses than at our urban background sites.”Officials with the LV Breathes project
“For example, looking at the average daily levels of PM2.5 from the months of July to November, we see a difference of more than three micrograms per cubic meter of air between some centralized (high traffic) areas in the urban corridor of the Valley and more peripheral urban corridor locations,” officials said.
“Additionally, for the months of September through November, our preliminary analysis of existing monitors shows that there are higher levels of average PM2.5 in areas that are proximate to roadways and warehouses than at our urban background sites.”
While the finding might seem intuitive, it matters, especially because there were two monitors from the state in place before the project launched.
An eye on air quality
So far, data shows two state Department of Environmental Protection monitors don’t identify readings throughout the region, officials said.
Those two sites, in Freemansburg and East Allentown, are monitored to ensure compliance with the federal Clean Air Act.
Each additional monitor we install expands the geographic specificity of the data we collect.Lehigh Valley Breathes January update
“Each additional monitor we install expands the geographic specificity of the data we collect,” according to the update.
Air quality has been a point of contention across the region for several years because of the booming warehousing industry contributing to heavier truck traffic and increased emissions.
Transportation and mobile sources are the second-largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, making up 27% of the Valley’s total emissions, according to a March study from the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission.
Then, in June, Canadian wildfire smoke gave the region some of the worst air quality in the nation. A couple months later, Allentown was named the asthma capital of the United States, climbing from third place the year prior.
For more information, visit the Lehigh County or Northampton County website for Lehigh Valley Breathes.
