Air Toxics Study Begins

Staff in the Air Quality Monitoring Section of ESP recently began operating four samplers as part of a study to look at concentrations of arsenic and other toxics metals in the air in St. Louis.

In the first phase of the project, air monitoring staff are operating and performing quality control checks on four samplers.  The samplers were installed in December at the Blair St., Hall St. and Arnold West air monitoring sites. In addition, a sampler was also installed on the roof of a building at Washington University.  These samplers will run every third day during 2008, collecting particles smaller than 10 microns on filters.  The filters will then be analyzed for trace amounts of several toxic metals.

Arnold West
Washington University
Arnold Sampler Looking East Washington University Sampler
Hall Street
Blair Street
Hall Street Sampler Looking South
Blair Street Sampler Looking East

In the second phase of the project, a new instrument that uses special technology to obtain several measurements per day for toxic metals will be stationed at various locations in St. Louis. This part of the project will start in July.

The department’s Air Pollution Control Program obtained funding for the air toxics study from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Washington University and St. Louis City are also cooperating in the project, which is designed to get information about the levels of metals that people in St. Louis might be breathing.