ARAQMD Criteria Pollutants

A criteria air pollutant is one of six commonly found air pollutants. This categorization consists of the air pollutants: particulate matter (fugitive dust; PM_2.5and PM₁₀), ground-level ozone (O₃), carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur oxides (SO), nitrogen oxides (NO), and lead (Pb

). Due to their individual health effects to humans and the environment each pollutant has received specific emission limitations designed by the EPA based upon the clean air acts requirement to set National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The Clean Air Act not only required the creation of NAAQS but caused further division of NAAQS related to sensitive groups, known as primary standards, and another subsection based upon visibility and the environment, known as secondary standards. Below is a chart of the NAAQs available through the EPA.

National Ambient Air Quality Standards

	Primary Standards		Secondary Standards
Pollutant	Level	Averaging Time	Level	Averaging Time
Carbon Monoxide	9 ppm (10 mg/m³)	8-hour	None
Carbon Monoxide	35 ppm (40 mg/m³)	1-hour	None
Lead	0.15 µg/m³	Rolling 3-Month Average	Same as Primary
Lead	1.5 µg/m³	Quarterly Average	Same as Primary
Nitrogen Dioxide	0.053 ppm (100 µg/m³)	Annual (Arithmetic Mean)	Same as Primary
Particulate Matter (PM₁₀)	150 µg/m³	24-hour	Same as Primary
Particulate Matter (PM_2.5)	15.0 µg/m³	Annual (Arithmetic Mean)	Same as Primary
Particulate Matter (PM_2.5)	35 µg/m³	24-hour	Same as Primary
Ozone	0.075 ppm (2008 std)	8-hour	Same as Primary
Sulfur Dioxide	0.03 ppm	Annual (Arithmetic Mean)	0.5 ppm (1300 µg/m³)	3-hour
Sulfur Dioxide	0.14 ppm	24-hour

Click Here for further and greater detailed
information available through the EPA

146 South High Street, Suite 904 Akron, Ohio 44308

AQ Information Line: 330-375-2545
toll free: 1-800-589-2480

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