ENVIRON completes Teterboro Airport Air Quality Study

Teterboro Airport (TEB) is located on an 827-acre property in Teterboro and Moonachie, New Jersey. As the oldest operating airport in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area, TEB has grown into one of the busiest General Aviation airports in the US, with more than 200,000 arrivals and departures per year. In response to community concerns about potential local air quality impacts, ENVIRON conducted a year-long air monitoring study of TEB operations. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection oversaw this first long-term study of air quality in the vicinity of an airport ever performed.

The general goals of ENVIRON’s study were:

• To assess long-term ambient concentrations of selected air toxics in the immediate vicinity of the airport and the associated risks to human health; and
• To evaluate whether contributions from airport operations can be discerned from the contributions of other background sources.

The study focused on the compounds known to be emitted by mobile sources (e.g., cars, trucks, and aircraft), with particular attention to compounds associated with aircraft operations (e.g., takeoff, landing, refueling, idling, and maintenance). A combination of real-time monitoring and discrete sampling equipment was used to quantify the following:

• Gaseous Compounds – Continuous, path-integrated gas measurements of BTEX, acetaldehyde, 1,3-butadiene, formaldehyde, NO2, NO, and other compounds were collected using a CEREX UVSentry Open Path Air Monitoring System.
• Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and Carbonyls – VOC samples were collected in six-liter stainless steel SUMMA® canisters. Carbonyl (e.g., formaldehyde, acetaldehyde) samples were collected on a Sep-Pak cartridge coated with DNHP. These samples were collected using an ATEC Model 2200 Toxic Air Sampler, which has the capability of simultaneously collecting air samples into canisters (for VOCs) and sorbent cartridges (for carbonyls).
• Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) – Continuous PM2.5 measurements were collected using a Met One E-BAM mass monitor, a portable, real-time beta attenuation monitor suitable for automated and continuous sampling and reporting of PM2.5 concentrations.
• Black Carbon (BC) – Continuous BC measurements were collected using a Magee Scientific Model AE-16 aethelometer. The aethelometer allows real-time measurement of optically-absorbing BC aerosol particles, which are characteristic of diesel and jet exhaust.
• Traffic Data – A Wavetronix Smart Sensor radar device was used to collect traffic data on Route 46 and Moonachie Avenue. The Smart Sensor is a non-intrusive traffic monitoring system that records number of vehicles, speed, and occupancy, and performs a limited classification of the vehicles as small, medium, or large.
• Meteorology – An RM Young Wind Monitor-AQ wind sensor was used to collect wind direction and wind speed data.

Data were collected throughout the calendar year 2006.

For more information or to view the final report, click here.

For additional information about this project and related services, please contact
Alan S. Kao.