Comparison of current Federal Reference Methods for ambient lead measurements adjacent to a secondary lead smelter

Abstract

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reduced their National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for lead (Pb) an order of magnitude to a concentration level of 0.15 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3) when the new rule was promulgated in 2008. At that time, the possibility of revising the Pb sampling method from total suspended particulate (TSP) to particulate matter less than or equal to 10 µm in diameter (PM10) was considered due to potential measurement bias of the Pb-TSP monitoring technique. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) has been operating source-orientated colocated TSP and PM10 monitors documenting ambient air lead (Pb) concentrations since 2011 at a site adjacent to a secondary Pb smelter in Wallkill, New York. The colocated Wallkill data show a very strong correlation between the readings recorded by these two sampling techniques. After the range of the variability in the individual Pb-PM10/Pb-TSP ratios was reduced by using a 0.005 µg/m3 concentration cut point, because of the concerns about the measurements at low concentrations, an adjustment factor (AF) of 1.49 was calculated using the remaining data set. This AF can be used to estimate Pb-TSP concentrations from Pb-PM10 readings at this Wallkill source-orientated location. It was stated by the EPA that there is only a limited data set in situations where Pb-TSP and Pb-PM10 are colocated, especially for those sites considered to be source-oriented, so the analyses performed and summarized herein for the Wallkill colocated airborne Pb concentration data add to that limited data set. Implications: These data analyses add to the limited data set in situations where Pb-TSP and Pb-PM10 are colocated to help refine the derivation of a site-specific adjustment factor for estimating TSP Pb concentrations from measured PM10 Pb concentrations. This could assist the EPA in transitioning away from the use of the Pb-TSP monitoring technique, with its indicated measurement bias, for the Pb NAAQS to the use of Pb-PM10 instead. An adjustment factor of 1.49 was calculated that could be used to estimate Pb-TSP concentrations from Pb-PM10 values collected around this source-orientated location.