During a virtual forum on Wednesday, Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) officials provided a wide range of information regarding the work they do to track air quality in the region, and what residents can do to track it themselves. The forum was organized by the Alliance for Health and Environment, a group of representatives from environmental organizations and officials from Saugus and Revere.
MassDEP Deputy Division Director of the Air Assessment Branch Sean Dunn and Director for the Division of Air and Climate Programs Christine Kirby served as the keynote speakers for the forum, which lasted slightly longer than an hour. During his presentation, Dunn explained the pollutants MassDEP monitors for, as well as how and where it does so.
The department has 24 air-monitoring sites statewide — including four in Boston, one in Lynn, and one in Chelsea — with each site monitoring for different things. The monitor in Lynn, for example, tracks O3, NO2, PM2.5, NOy, volatile organic compounds, and carbonyls.
Dunn showed a variety of charts noting where the state and each community that hosts monitoring sites fall with regards to the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s air-quality standards, and said that for essentially all of the pollutants, Massachusetts is well below limits set by the agency.
“We do find the data that we’re seeing is all below the EPA thresholds that have been set, which is all great,” he said. “It’s a wonderful thing to be able to say, and again, wasn’t always the case in Massachusetts.”
He said moving forward, the department aims to pay closer attention to PM2.5 — fine particulates smaller than approximately 2.5 microns — and ultrafine particles, which are even smaller than PM2.5.
“From a health perspective, the smaller particles are sort of considered more impactful than the larger PM10 particles,” Dunn said. “Christine has sort of led the charge on including ultrafines in our network because they’re not required by the EPA. The EPA has not established a threshold for them … They won’t until we start getting some of that information and showing what those impacts are.”
“That’s an exciting development for us,” he added.
Questions from those in attendance, including residents of Charlestown, Lynn, Revere, and Saugus, primarily concerned the efficacy and accuracy of the Purple Air Quality monitors distributed to 33 towns throughout the state — including Saugus — and the health impacts of the WIN Waste Innovations facility.
Saugus residents, including Board of Selectmen Vice Chair Debra Panetta, had been vocal about the concerns and fear sparked by high readings on the air-quality monitors. A small group attended a recent Board of Health meeting to share results they had seen on the public maps.
But, Dunn indicated that the monitors may not be as reliable as residents might assume they are, and noted that readings come with a confidence score. Any score below 90, he said, would make him start to doubt the reading.
One monitor in particular, installed at Lobsterman’s Landing in Saugus, has been producing consistently inaccurate readings, he said.
“We’re learning a ton about these Purple Airs. They’re sort of new technology, it’s really exciting because you can use these low-cost sensors to do a lot of work that you just couldn’t possibly do with regulatory equipment,” he said. “The Purple Air sensors are really fantastic for what they get used for, but we’re starting to recognize some of the downsides to these sensors as well. They’re not as robust as the regulatory monitors and they can malfunction.”
“Their sales pitch is, you get these cheap sensors, and then you get this really robust website,” Dunn added, noting that each sensor costs roughly $300.
Dunn backed away from providing any specific causes for spikes on the monitors, but noted that recent brush fires in the area could have played a part in particularly high readings.
Panetta sought information from the MassDEP officials about who residents should go to when they see a spike in the air-quality readings, but did not get a firm answer.
Dunn and Kirby essentially declined to comment on any specifics with regard to the WIN facility.
Clean Water Action New England Director Cindy Luppi said residents of the area were particularly concerned about the cumulative effect of the waste-to-energy plant, high-traffic roads in both Route 107 and Route 1A, and Logan Airport.
“It’s a lot in one relatively small area, and so that’s why we’re committed to keep focusing on these issues,” she said.
