Article Title
The Clean Air Act and Its Impact on Ground Level Ozone Pollution Levels in Los Angeles, California
First Advisor
Angelos Hannides
Abstract
Ozone (O3) occurs as a photochemically produced pollutant in the troposphere and its emission and concentration is regulated by the Clean Air Act (CAA) of 1970. The Los Angeles area is an example of how O3 can be a public health hazard and taint a city’s aesthetics and quality of life through photochemical smog. This study was conducted to observe the overall effectiveness of the CAA. I explored daily O3 concentrations from 1980 to the present at three air quality monitoring stations in LA from the AirData database of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. National O3 standards were only exceeded twice at one station throughout the study period. While the average O3 concentrations have been well below the national standards since 1980, they have remained relatively constant, while variance about these averages has steadily declined, indicating a positive impact on O3 concentrations in the LA metropolitan area.
Recommended Citation
Ford, Rebecca
(2018)
"The Clean Air Act and Its Impact on Ground Level Ozone Pollution Levels in Los Angeles, California,"
Bridges: A Journal of Student Research: Vol. 12:
Iss.
12, Article 2.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/bridges/vol12/iss12/2