A new study links the increase in ozone precursor emissions in Asia to increased levels of ozone over the US’s West Coast according to an August 11, 2015 article in Business Insider.

In the study, published August 10, 2015, a team of six researchers from US and Dutch universities found that ozone concentrations over China increased by about 7% between 2005 and 2010 and that ozone traveling in the air from China has reached the western part of the US, challenging the reduction of ozone levels there.

China’s meandering pollution likely offset the 2005-10 reduction in ozone that had been expected following US policies aimed at reducing emissions, by roughly 43%, the researchers found.

Over that period, the US government put in place emission-reducing measures and curbed the production of ozone-forming nitrogen oxides by 20% on the West Coast, according to Wageningen University. Yet that did not improve the quality of the air especially in terms of ozone reduction.

And the increased air pollution in Asia might be at least partly to blame.

What this means to you
EPA is proposing lowering ozone NAAQS standards from 75 parts per billion (ppb) to 65-70 ppb. Tropospheric ozone may be entering the U.S. from China.

MIRATECH can help.
Contact MIRATECH to learn how to control NOx and VOC (ozone precursor) emissions in your stationary engines.