Got Gas?????? Created By: Keaton Nicholson Nathan Boone Peter Seymour

Research Question Are the pM 2.5 levels at various gas stations significantly higher when gas is being pumped at the same stations?

Background Information PM is short for particulate matter. Measured in 2.5 microns. Causes of pM 2.5 Liquids Hydrocarbons Soot Dust Acids from aerosols

Background cont…… Souces pM 2.5 Wood stoves Combustion sources Gasoline emissions pM 2.5 particles are extremely microscopic A human hair is 50 microns pM is smaller than 2.5 microns in size The EPA limit for pM 2.5 is less than .035 micrograms/ cubic meter. We spend 85% of our time indoors.

Hypothesis If we you are filling up a tank at gas station, then the pM 2.5 level will be higher than when no gas is being pumped.

Methods DustTrack to collect data Sampled Sampled continuously Mike’s Conoco (6 min.) SafeWay gas station (7 min.) Town Pump (10 min.) Sampled continuously Before During After

Mike’s Conoco Results

SafeWay Results

Town Pump Results

Improvements We could have filled up a full tank of gas at each station. We could have tested when the same amount of cars were at each station. We could have done one test when it was hot and sunny and another test when it was cold and cloudy.

References

Conclusion pM 2.5 rarely exceeds the outdoor air limit No more dangerous than taking a walk in the park. Town Pump gives off the most emissions.

Questions??????