Air Quality Research Released

Prince George’s air quality is cleaner than it has been in the past dozen years. That’s according to a study done by Environmental Science Professor, Dr. Peter Jackson and a group of undergraduate and graduate students. They analyzed the fine particulate matter (PM2.5) levels in the air. That work found that the most dramatic changes in air quality have come when the wind pushes air from the heavy industrial zone into the city centre. “When winds come from the east, which is carrying the air from the heavy industrial zone, the trend over the past 12 years is a pronounced decrease in the fine particulate matter in the air,” Jackson explains. The research also found that although the highest levels of particulate matter still occur when the wind comes from the east, that wind direction had the largest relative decrease in particulate matter. “We know that industry, especially the pulp mills, have been spending hundreds of millions of dollars on upgrades that reduce the amount of particulate matter they release into the air,” Jackson says. “It has been frustrating not being able to detect that in the actual monitoring data, but this study suggests that what they are doing is working.”