TITLE:
Air Quality Regarding to TSP in Six Cities of Sonora, Mexico, a Criticism to the NOM-025-SSA1-1993 and a Proposed Criterion for Its Non-Compliance
AUTHORS:
Martín Eusebio Cruz-Campas, Agustín Gómez-Álvarez, Margarito Quintero-Núñez, Roberto Ramírez-Leal, Jaime Varela-Salazar, Onofre Monge-Amaya
KEYWORDS:
Particles, TSP, Air Quality, NOM-025-SSA1-1993, Sonora Mexico
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Environmental Protection,
Vol.5 No.10,
July
25,
2014
ABSTRACT: In the present study, the air quality is assessed for the year 2010
regarding to the Total Suspended Particles (TSP) for six cities of Sonora,
Mexico, representing the first regional study in Sonora in air quality. The
assessment used performance indicators and indicators of compliance with the
regulations. It is established that in all the cities the maximum limit value
of daily concentration of 210 μg/m3 is exceeded, being the
percentage of days above the rule of 30%, 78%, 76%, 6%, 3% and 62% for Agua
Prieta, Nogales, Puerto Penasco, Hermosillo, Guaymas and Obregón respectively,
classifying these days with poor air quality. According to the annualized index
used, the air quality was not satisfactory for the period of study in the six
cities. Nogales and Puerto Penasco presented the most adverse conditions of air
quality with annual average values of TSP of 363 and 345 μg/m3 and
maximum daily of 1047 and 1239 μg/m3 (498% and 590% above the norm)
respectively. The requirements of coverage that establishes the Mexican
Official Standard NOM-025-SSA1-1993 (SSA, 2005) are questioned for its
compliance, proposing in this paper a criterion of non-compliance by
prioritizing the protection of health and the precautionary principle. It is recommended to implement air quality management
programs (PROAIRE) in these cities.