Carbon monoxide (CO) is a toxic air pollutant produced largely from vehicle emissions. Breathing CO at high concentrations leads to reduced oxygen transport by hemoglobin, which has health effects that include impaired reaction timing, headaches, lightheadedness, nausea, vomiting, weakness, clouding of consciousness, coma, and, at high enough concentrations and long enough exposure, death. In recognition of those health effects, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as directed by the Clean Air Act, established the health-based National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for CO in 1971.
Most areas that were previously designated as "nonattainment" areas have come into compliance with the NAAQS for CO, but some locations still have difficulty in attaining the CO standards. Those locations tend to have topographical or meteorological characteristics that exacerbate pollution. In view of the challenges posed for some areas to attain compliance with the NAAQS for CO, congress asked the National Research Council to investigate the problem of CO in areas with meteorological and topographical problems. This interim report deals specifically with Fairbanks, Alaska. Fairbanks was chosen as a case study because its meteorological and topographical characteristics make it susceptible to severe winter inversions that trap CO and other pollutants at ground level.
- THE ONGOING CHALLENGE OF MANAGING CARBON MONOXIDE POLLUTION IN FAIRBANKS, ALASKA
- Copyright
- OTHER REPORTS OF THE BOARD ON ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AND TOXICOLOGY
- Acknowledgment of Review Participants
- Preface
- Contents
- Summary
- THE COMMITTEE'S APPROACH TO ITS CHARGE
- FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
- CO Concentration Trends in Fairbanks
- Health and Exposure
- Health Benefits from Meeting CO Standards
- Exposure During Episodes
- Copollutants
- Meteorological Conditions of Primary Concern
- I/M Programs in the Fairbanks North Star Borough
- Frequency and Exemptions
- Improvements in Emissions Testing
- Remote Sensing
- Ongoing Evaluation of I/M
- Vehicle Plug-ins
- Fuel Sulfur Content
- Oxygenated Fuels
- Traffic Flow and Motorist-Directed Control Strategies
- Improving Ambient Monitoring in the Borough
- Improving Ambient-CO Modeling in the Borough
- Public Education
- OVERALL EVALUATION
- 1 Sources and Effects of Carbon Monoxide Emissions
- THE PROBLEM
- CHARGE TO THE COMMITTEE
- HEALTH EFFECTS OF CO
- Clinical and Epidemiological Studies of CO Effects
- CO Exposure
- Related Pollutants
- NATIONAL AIR QUALITY STATUS FOR AMBIENT CO
- Areas in Nonattainment for CO
- METEOROLOGY AND TOPOGRAPHY IN CO NONATTAINMENT AREAS
- NATIONAL INVENTORY OF CO EMISSIONS
- CO EMISSIONS FROM VEHICLES
- Vehicle Technologies
- Cold-Start Emissions
- New-Vehicle Certification Programs
- Strategies to Address Emissions-Control Failures
- AIR QUALITY MODELS
- SUMMARY
- 2 Fairbanks Case Study
- GEOGRAPHICAL, METEOROLOGICAL, AND SOCIETAL CONTEXT
- Physical Setting
- Demographics
- CO DATA
- Exceedances in Fairbanks
- Recent CO Trends
- Air Quality Alerts
- Empirical Modeling
- EMISSIONS AND VEHICLE CHARACTERISTICS
- CO Inventory and Forecasted Reductions
- Vehicle-Fleet Characteristics
- CO CONTROL PROGRAMS
- Fleet-Turnover Incentives
- In-Use Vehicle Controls
- Fuels Control
- Gasoline Volatility
- Oxygenated Fuels
- Sulfur Content
- I/M Programs
- Methods and Data for Evaluating the I/M Program
- Cold-Start Controls
- Plug-In Strategies
- After-Market Retrofits
- Transportation Control Measures
- Transportation-Demand Management
- Transportation-Supply Improvement
- Public Education and Surveys
- Methods and Data to Quantify Control-Strategy Effects
- Control-Strategy Benefits for Related Pollutants
- Mechanical Vertical Mixing
- SIMPLE BOX MODEL OF THE BOROUGH
- The Data
- The Model
- Results and Discussion
- SUMMARY
- 3 Implications of the Fairbanks Case Study
- PROSPECTS FOR CONTINUED ATTAINMENT
- RELATIONSHIP OF FAIRBANKS CASE STUDY TO OTHER NONATTAINMENT AREAS
- References
- Glossary
- Appendix Biographical Information on the Committee on Carbon Monoxide Episodes in Meteorological and Topographical Problem...
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