Particulate Matter (PM) is a mix of solid and liquid pollutants that can be separated into the two categories depending on their size. PM2.5 are fine particles that are 2.5 micrometers in diameter; PM10 are coarse particles that are between 2.5 and 10 micrometers. Additionally, there is a category known as ultrafine particles, which are smaller than 0.1 micrometers.

PM can originate from various sources, which then determine the composition of the PM and the effects it could cause. Typically, PM is made up of nitric acids, sulfuric acids, other organic chemicals, metals, and soil/dust particles. PM10 primarily are dust and soot, which can be from vehicles on roadways and industrial areas. PM2.5 are generally from forest fire smoke and industrial combustion sources.

PM can be in the form of smoke, soot, dust, salt, acids, and metals. Additionally, PM can be from gaseous nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides when they are released into the atmosphere (typically from burning fossil fuels) and undergo chemical reactions with the ozone to become PM. This reaction is called oxidation. Further reaction with water vapor can lead to acid rain formation.

Because they are so small, PM can be easily breathed in by people, entering the respiratory system and wreak havoc on their cardiovascular system. PM10 is large enough to get caught in mucus or cilia of the nose and throat, which will lead to coughing and expelling the particulate matter out.

PM2.5 are small enough to enter the lungs, as deep as the bronchioles (passageway from nose or mouth to the air sacs) and alveoli (air sac surrounded by artery and veins, which is where the blood cells exchange carbon dioxide for oxygen). Because PM2.5 can penetrate deeper into the lungs, the severity of the health effects increases.

Ultrafine PM can integrate into the bloodstream through the alveoli.  This causes PM to spread throughout the body into organs such as the heart and brain. PM is made up of toxic pollutants. Accumulation of PM in the body can create chronic respiratory problems. For people with heart or lung diseases and exposure to PM have a higher risk of premature death and heart attacks. Overall any prolong exposure to any PM is toxic and leads to health problems. When exposed to PM, people with existing heart and lung diseases, young children, and the elderly are at high risk for health complications.

Since 1995, the National Center of Environmental Research (NCER) has been studying PM to further understand its health impacts on people and the environment. Their discoveries will help set up the PM National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Research will allow both the government and public to understand what PM is and what to do about it.

Information obtained from Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Clean Heat Asbruton

Rules and Regulations for PM + Impacts

Public concern regarding air quality issues was brought to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s (NJDEP) attention on many occasions. For instance, in 2010, environmental groups and government agencies raised a number of issues through lawsuits and petitions for reassessments of the rules pertaining to air quality standards.

In response to several petitions formed by these groups and agencies, the EPA validated new amendments to the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Stationary Internal Combustion Engines (RICE) on Jan. 14, 2013. These amendments address public concerns regarding cost effectiveness, achievability, and protectiveness of both people and the environment. These finalized amendments require the use of cleaner fuel, such as ultralow sulfur Diesel (ULSD), as opposed to Diesel fuel, which will contribute to reducing the risks of particulate matter (PM) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions.

According to environmental engineer, Bill Etherington, who specializes in Diesel Inspection and Innovative Strategies for the NJDEP, the health effects of particulate matter emissions from engines fueled by Diesel is an important issue for all New Jersey citizens.

As confirmed by Dr. Nicky Sheats, Dr. Etherington also stated that Diesel powered engines, powering both on-road vehicles and off-road equipment, tend to be concentrated in the urban environments. He states that the Bureau of Mobile Sources regulates the emissions from both on-road vehicles and off-road equipment.

Referring to the NJDEP page on air toxicity, (http://www.nj.gov/dep/airtoxics/njatp.htm), the Air Toxics Steering Committee (ATSC) was formed in 1987. The primary purpose of the committee was to collaborate with other agencies and representatives of various NJDEP programs, all of whom were dealing with different issues pertaining to air quality.
Additionally, the agencies participating in the air quality program also represent the Office of Science; Air Compliance and Enforcement; Office of Policy and Planning; Environmental Justice Program; Office of Local Environmental Management; Office of Pollution Prevention and Right to Know; and the Department of Health. Even today, the Steering Committee continues to meet on a regular basis, to analyze the air toxicity problem in New Jersey, address qualitative matters, and to develop strategies of prevention.

Subsequently, the USEPA established annual and 24-hour National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for PM2.5 in 1997, and then revised them in 2006. The states are required to establish programs that will help them meet the air quality standards. On December 18, 2007, New Jersey submitted its recommendation of nonattainment areas in New Jersey to the USEPA. Then on December 26, 2012, the State of New Jersey requested to re-delegate the New Jersey portion of the nonattainment area, with emissions inventories from New York to New Jersey to Connecticut.

In response to this, the NJDEP proposed a revised protection plan for the areas as a SIP revision to ensure continued air quality attainment. In a supplemental submission to EPA on May 3, 2013, the State of New Jersey submitted NH3 and VOC emissions inventories to supplement. Specific details regarding EPA’s analysis of New Jersey’s SIP can be found in the proposed rulemaking published in the Federal Register on June 27, 2013.

In regards to this proposal, EPA received supportive feedback from two sources. There are no known opposing sources on the matter.

Incidentally, as indicated by the information on the NJDEP’s Stop the Soot site (http://www.nj.gov/dep/stopthesoot/), Dr. Etherington gave some brief insight on the bureau’s activities. The site provides basic details on:

• The Diesel Inspection and Maintenance (I/M) Program: requires annual and periodic roadside emission inspections of diesel powered on-road vehicles. The Diesel I/M program was established by law in 1995.
• The Mandatory Diesel Retrofit Program (directed by the Diesel Retrofit Law): requires installation of particulate emission control devices on vehicles such as school buses, commercial buses, publicly owned or publicly contracted solid waste collection vehicles (trash trucks), and publicly owned on-road vehicles and off-road equipment ( all vehicles certified by the USEPA).
• Voluntary Diesel Demonstration Projects: involves installation of emission reduction devices on on-road vehicles and off-road equipment.
• Vehicle Idling Restrictions for both diesel and gasoline powered vehicles.
• The New Jersey Clean Construction Program: establishes a program to install pollution control devices on off-road construction equipment used on selected N.J. Department of Transportation (NJDOT) construction projects.

Altogether, these rules and regulations have received mostly positive feedback; especially in regards to the Diesel Retrofit program. The implementation of this program was unanimously agreed upon by industry, public and several State government agencies. It is believed to be a good indicator to the improvement of air quality and public health in New Jersey (This rule adoption can be viewed on the NJDEP website at http://www.state.nj.us/dep).

Some of the commenters/supporters are:

• James Blando of the New Jersey Clean Air Council
• Kevin F. Brown with Engine Control Systems
• Bradley L. Edgar with the Cleaire Advance Emission Controls
• Julian Imes with Donaldson Filtration Solutions
• Carol Katz with the Katz Government Affairs, on behalf of the Bus Association of New Jersey, and
• Dr. Nicky Sheats with the Center for the Urban Environment, on behalf of New Jersey Work Environment Council, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance, GreenFaith, and New Jersey Environmental Federation.

A former student passed along this March, 2013 blog post , “I was a college newspaper advisor,” by journalist and adjunct journalism instructor Jeff Pearlman about his disappointing experience as an unpaid adviser for Manhattanville College’s student newspaper. According to the post, Perlman helped the students launch the paper in 2011, extracted a promise of support and non-interference from the administration, and put in lots of sweat equity helping the students learn the fundamentals of newspaper reporting, editing, design and production. Unfortunately, he said, the administration pulled the paper out from under him and the student staff because it was upset that articles criticizing aspects of campus life might repel potential applicants and donors. The administration installed a PR prof as advisor, the staff turned over, and the result was an irregularly-published PR rag. Pearlman went on to help his students found an alternative online outlet, PubWrap. For Pearlman, the whole sad saga is part of the larger attack on journalism:

“What hurts most (and what, I suppose, inspires me to write this) is that this sort of stuff is going on everywhere. Journalism is, undeniably, under attack. Newspapers are closing. Corporate entities are stifling free press; colleges and universities are cracking down on student-generated publications….”

Read the post, and read the discussion that follows. As I read it, I recognized many of the issues that Pearlman raised, either from my own experience or those of peers at other institutions.

I too, was a college newspaper adviser.

Fortunately, the student newspaper with which I was associated from the mid-90s to the mid-aughts, The Signal, is going strong under the mentorship of their current advisor, former Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Emilie Lounsberry. (Once again, they racked up the honors (.pdf) in the New Jersey Press Association’s annual Better College Newspaper Contest.) Like Pearlman, I also helped my students launch Unbound, an online newsmagazine, in the days when online journalism was young. I know something about late nights, stale pizza, cringing over simple errors, taking pride in each improvement and helping students figure out coverage of big, awful, breaking stories in real time (9/11 especially comes to mind.)

I also know something about having to negotiate to protect the newspaper’s autonomy and resources, although I must say that I am fortunate never to have encountered the treachery that Pearlman apparently experienced.

Drop in on a listserv discussion or meeting of the College Media Advisers, or browse the news flashes on the Student Press Law Center website and you are sure to come across issues such as:

• Newspapers being stolen or removed from public distribution because someone is offended by its contents
• Pressure from administrators to provide favorable coverage, or stifle unfavorable coverage.
• Threats of legal action from outside parties over coverage of a story concerning them.
• Demands from outside groups demanding the removal of editors and/or advisers because of what they published — or refused to publish.
• Actual threats to the safety of student staff and advisers that required police action.

Fortunately, organizations such as SPLC and CMA are invaluable in helping to ensure that students’ and advisers’ legal rights are protected. So are state press associations. I recall having to call the legal hotline of our state press association on more than one occasion to get advice about my rights as an adviser, as well as my students’ rights.

Because you can be sued for something the students publish, even though you didn’t know about it, and even though you had no input into the publishing decision. And CMA argues that, indeed, you should not have any input into those decisions: “It should not be the media adviser’s role to modify student writing or broadcasts, for it robs student journalists of educational opportunity and could severely damage their rights to free expression.”

Pearlman doesn’t say whether he consulted CMA or SPLC about his difficulties with the Manhattanville College administration. CMA has been known to censure campuses for stifling students’ freedom of speech in the manner Pearlman describes. Manhattanville’s administration might not have cared, and as a private institution, it has more latitude than does a public college such as mine when it comes to these kinds of decisions. And as a poorly-compensated adjunct with a full-time sportswriting gig, it’s understandable if Pearlman chose to cut his losses and vent on his blog instead of fighting. But others who may be in similar positions need to know that there are resources out there. I know I discovered CMA on my own. Other faculty advisers shouldn’t have to.