Research Priorities for Airborne Particulate Matter: IV. Continuing Research Progress (2004)
Chapter: Terms and Abbreviations
Terms and Abbreviations
AER:
air exchange rate
Aerosol:
a suspension of solid and/or liquid particles in a gas
Attenuation factor:
fraction of ambient particles to which humans are exposed
Black carbon:
a general term often used interchangeably with “elemental carbon” or “soot.”
CAA:
Clean Air Act
CAPs:
concentrated ambient particles
CARB:
California Air Resources Board
CASAC:
Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
CEM:
continuous emission monitor
CFR:
Code of Federal Regulations
CO:
carbon monoxide
COPD:
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Criteria document:
an encyclopedic document prepared by EPA with assistance from the larger scientific community that describes the characteristics and potential human-health and public-welfare effects of criteria pollutants
Criteria pollutants:
The Clean Air Act requires EPA to set National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for certain pollutants known to be hazardous to human health and the public welfare (for example, damage to forests and degradation of atmospheric visibility). In addition, these pollutants should be ones whose presence in ambient air results from numerous or diverse mobile or stationary sources. EPA has identified and set standards to protect human health and welfare for six pollutants: ozone, carbon monoxide, particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), sulfur dioxide, lead, and nitrogen oxide. The
term criteria pollutants derives from the requirement that EPA must describe the characteristics and potential health and welfare effects of these pollutants. It is on the basis of such criteria that NAAQS are set or revised.
EC:
elemental carbon
EPA:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
EPRI:
Electric Power Research Institute
FRM:
federal reference method
FTP:
federal test procedure
GAM:
generalized additive model
GLM:
generalized linear model
GIS:
geographic information system
HEI:
Health Effects Institute
HRV:
heart rate variability
IMPROVE:
Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments
MAPP:
Multiple Air Pollutant Program
Microenvironment:
A three-dimensional space with a volume in which contaminant concentration is spatially uniform during some specific interval
NAAQS:
National Ambient Air Quality Standards
NMHC:
nonmethane hydrocarbon
NH3:
ammonia
NMMAPS:
National Morbidity, Mortality, and Air Pollution Study
NO2:
nitrogen dioxide
NOx:
oxides of nitrogen (NO and NO2)
NRC:
National Research Council
O3:
oxygen
OC:
organic carbon
PM:
particulate matter
PM0.1:
particles less than 0.1 μm in aerodynamic diameter, called ultrafines
PM2.5:
particles less than 2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter, called fine particles
PM10:
particles less than 10 µm in aerodynamic diameter
PM10-2.5:
particles between 2.5 µm and 10 µm in aerodynamic diameter, called coarse particles
PM10+:
particles greater than 10 µm in aerodynamic diameter (particles not assumed to be respirable)
ROFA:
residual oil fly ash
SAB:
EPA’s Science Advisory Board
SO2:
sulfur dioxide
Staff paper:
Prepared by EPA, the staff paper translates the scientific advances that are described in the criteria document into potential policy options, including possible revisions to the four elements of the NAAQS: pollutant indicator, averaging time, statistical form, and the level.
STAR:
Science to Achieve Results
STN:
speciation trends network
Time-series study:
epidemiological studies that evaluate associations between changes in health effects and changes in exposure indicators (for example, ambient PM concentrations) preceding or simultaneous with the observed outcome
TSP:
total suspended particles
VOC:
volatile organic compound
