Pollutants of Concern  |   Sources Impacting Iowa Tribe  |   Future Plans

Air Quality Management Goal

To protect the health of the Iowa People by ensuring that the air quality within the Iowa Nation is upheld and not degraded by unnecessary actions or economic development.

Air Quality Issues

Air quality affects the Iowa Tribe community in a multitude of ways. Nature and scenic landscapes are sacred and the reduction of visibility caused by air pollution is an affront to our heritage and our quality of life.

Air pollution can make people sick, harm the environment, damage property, diminish agricultural production, and reduce visibility. On an individual level, air pollution affects residents every time they take a breath. As a community, clean air is vital to overall tribal health and welfare, to the local ecosystems, and to the aesthetic beauty and quality of life enjoyed by everyone.

What Causes Air Pollution?

Air pollution comes from many sources, both natural and man-made. The main sources of pollution vary from area to area and pollutant to pollutant. In rural areas natural processes like forest fires and wind-blown dust can be significant sources of particulate matter pollution. Toxic air contaminants are also emitted from such sources as factories, dry cleaners, vehicles, residential burning (wood stoves or open burning) and use of paint and paint thinners.

Project overview

In 2004 The Iowa Tribe’s Office of Environmental Services (OES) completed a study called the “The Clean Air Capacity Building Project”. This was the first year the Iowa Tribe received funds from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for an air pollution grant. The purpose of this project was to determine if an air quality problem exists within the Tribe. Program goals met included (1) investigated possible connections between health problems and air pollution occurrences within the Tribal community, (2) identified and listed all air pollution sources impacting tribal lands, (3) provided community and tribal members with education materials on air pollution and ways to keep our air clean. This project’s primary focus was on developing program capacity and an air pollution source identification database. A technical report documenting this project can be found in the OES Program file entitled Clean Air Capacity Building Project.

Summary of Project Findings

Following preliminary research, it was concluded that the pollutants of concern affecting the tribal jurisdictional area include Particulate Matter (PM), Volatile Organic Carbons (VOC), Sulfur Dioxide (SO), Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAP), Carbon Monoxide (CO), and Nitrogen oxides (NOx).

Numerical values are expressed in tons per year

Pollutants of Concern

Particulate matter, or PM

Particulate matter is the term used for a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air. Coarse particles (larger than 2.5 micrometers) come from a variety of sources including windblown dust and grinding operations. Fine particles (less than 2.5 micrometers) often come from fuel combustion, power plants, and diesel buses and trucks. These fine particles are so small that several thousand of them could fit on the period at the end of this sentence.

They are of health concern because they easily reach the deepest recesses of the lungs. Studies have linked particulate matter, especially fine particles (alone or in combination with other air pollutants), with a series of significant health problems, including: premature death; Respiratory related hospital admissions and emergency room visits; Aggravated asthma; Acute respiratory symptoms, including aggravated coughing and difficult or painful breathing.

How Does Particulate Matter and Fine Particles Affect the Environment?

The same fine particles linked to serious health effects are also a major cause of visibility impairment in many parts of the U.S.

In many parts of the U.S. the visual range has been reduced 70% from natural conditions. In the east, the current range is only 14-24 miles vs. a natural visibility of 90 miles. In the west, the current range is 33-90 miles vs. a natural visibility of 140 miles.

Nitrogen oxides, or NOx

, is the generic term for a group of highly reactive gases, all of which contain nitrogen and oxygen in varying amounts. Many of the nitrogen oxides are colorless and odorless. However, one common pollutant, nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) along with particles in the air can often be seen as a reddish-brown layer over many urban areas.

Nitrogen oxides form when fuel is burned at high temperatures, as in a combustion process. The primary manmade sources of NOx are motor vehicles, electric utilities, and other industrial, commercial, and residential sources that burn fuels. NOx can also be formed naturally.

Carbon monoxide, or CO

, is a colorless, practically odorless, and tasteless gas or liquid. It results from incomplete oxidation of carbon in combustion.

Sources of Carbon Monoxide

Unvented kerosene and gas space heaters; leaking chimneys and furnaces; back-drafting from furnaces, gas water heaters, wood stoves, and fireplaces; gas stoves; generators and other gasoline powered equipment; automobile exhaust from attached garages; and tobacco smoke. Incomplete oxidation during combustion in gas ranges and unvented gas or kerosene heaters may cause high concentrations of CO in indoor air.

Health Effects Associated with Carbon Monoxide

At low concentrations, fatigue in healthy people and chest pain in people with heart disease. At higher concentrations, impaired vision and coordination; headaches; dizziness; confusion; nausea. Can cause flu-like symptoms that clear up after leaving home. Fatal at very high concentrations. Acute effects are due to the formation of carboxyhemoglobin in the blood, which inhibits oxygen intake. At moderate concentrations, angina, impaired vision, and reduced brain function may result. At higher concentrations, CO exposure can be fatal.

Volatile organic chemicals, or VOCs

are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids. VOCs include a variety of chemicals, some of which may have short- and long-term adverse health effects. Concentrations of many VOCs are consistently higher indoors (up to ten times higher) than outdoors.

Sources of VOCs

VOC’s are emitted by a wide array of products numbering in the thousands. Examples include: paints and lacquers, paint strippers, cleaning supplies, pesticides, building materials and furnishings, office equipment such as copiers and printers, correction fluids and carbonless copy paper, graphics and craft materials including glues and adhesives, permanent markers, and photographic solutions.

Health Effects

Eye, nose, and throat irritation; headaches, loss of coordination, nausea; damage to liver, kidney, and central nervous system. Some organics can cause cancer in animals; some are suspected or known to cause cancer in humans. Key signs or symptoms associated with exposure to VOCs include conjunctival irritation, nose and throat discomfort, headache, allergic skin reaction, dyspnea, declines in serum cholinesterase levels, nausea, emesis, epistaxis, fatigue, dizziness.

Hazardous Air Pollutants, or HAPs

HAPs are also known as toxic air pollutants or toxics. HAP’s are those pollutants that are known or suspected to cause cancer or other serious health effects, such as reproductive effects or birth defects, or adverse environmental effects. EPA is working with state, local, and tribal governments to reduce air toxics releases of 188 pollutants to the environment. Examples of toxic air pollutants include benzene, which is found in gasoline; perchlorethlyene, which is emitted from some dry cleaning facilities; and methylene chloride, which is used as a solvent and paint stripper by a number of industries. Examples of other listed air toxics include dioxin, asbestos, toluene, and metals such as cadmium, mercury, chromium, and lead compounds.

Identified Air Emission Sources Impacting the Iowa Tribe

Point Sources

1. 2 Asphalt/Paving Facilities
2. 17 Compressor/Booster Stations
3. Carney Gas Plant (identified by EPA as Major Point Source Polluter)

Area Sources

1. Residential Heating
2. Fires
   • Prescribed burning
   • Barrel/Open burning
3. Gasoline Services Stations
4. Paved/Unpaved Roads
5. Construction
   • General Building Construction
   • Road Construction
6. Agriculture Processes
   • Pesticide Usage
   • Agriculture Tilling
   • Crop Harvesting

On-road Mobile Sources

1. Cars
2. Buses
3. Trucks
4. Motorcycles

Non-road Mobile Sources

1. Farm Equipment
2. Construction Equipment

Future Plans

☼The Tribe was awarded funding from EPA for FY 2009 to update the "2004 Air Source List" of air pollutant sources for the Iowa Reservation. OES will pursue funding from EPA Clean Air Act Section 103 to complete an "Emission Inventory" that will quantitatively and accurately depict air pollution within the Iowa Tribe and its surrounding area. This emission inventory will be comprehensive in nature and address all sources of air pollution including point, area, and mobile sources.

☼Based on the Emission Inventory results identify any “Pollutants of Concern” and monitor for those pollutants to determine if the pollutants meet National Ambient Air Quality Standards.

☼Develop and enforce an Iowa Tribe Open Burning Regulation.

☼Educate tribal and community members on air pollution health effects.

☼Educate and promote best management practices to help reduce air pollution emissions during Tribal construction activities.