Tue
Apr 7 2009
11:44 am
UMD's first round air monitoring data March 5 thru March 24, 2009
By: matt landon

Dear folks,

Here is the first round of independent air monitoring data from United Mountain Defense. Even though each of these air filters had visible dust on it after the 24 hour sample it appears that for most of the samples the levels of metals were at non detection levels. The individual detection levels are listed in the center row for each metal on the following link. Measurements are in micrograms.

The latest data::
(link...) first round of 24 hour air monitoring samples

There was one detection of .05 micrograms of lead in an air sample taken on the back side of Swan Pond Circle more than a mile downwind from the disaster. Our Mini Volume air monitor produced by Air Metrics draws 5 liters per minute of air through a PM 2.5 micron Whatman pure teflon filter. We are consulting with the Global Community Monitor about these results and deciding what our next round of monitoring will look like.

The next training session about how to use the air monitor will occur at Roane County Park on April 18 from 5PM- 7PM in Shelter Number 1. There will be a hotdog dinner for those participating in the training. Also in the future look for a training by the Global Community Monitor about how to interpret this data.

The differences in the following two sets of data are that the air monitors only ran for 24 hour periods from March 5 thru March 24, while the swipe samples were glass collection trays that sat outside for 2-3 weeks during late Feb into early March.

The latest data::
(link...) first round of 24 hour air monitoring samples

Older swipe sampling data::
(link...) older swipe sample data

Alright have a good day.
till then, matt landon full time volunteer staff for United Mountain Defense and dedicated Roane County volunteer

Check out TVA's disaster dust storm video::: (link...)

check out UMD's website at (link...)
UMD's blog at (link...)

We have year round internships!!

Topics:

I appreciate you making the

Submitted by ConcernedCitizen on April 7, 2009 - 2:24pm.

I appreciate you making the results of the air monitoring tests available and I appreciate all your hard work.

From the results of the test it appears eating hotdogs at the training session may be more dangerous to our health than breathing the air.

I didn't see any test for those tiny particulates

Submitted by onetahiti on April 7, 2009 - 7:06pm.

I only saw the test results for metals.

Is anyone testing for those <=2 micron-sized silicon-based particles?

-- OneTahiti

Now if TVA

Submitted by farmer leaf on April 7, 2009 - 10:18pm.

were serving up "tube steaks" to the participants, that we could understand.
UMD, you might need to upgrade to more healthy fare for our citizens.

Living and teaching Earth friendly sustainable agricultural practices.

For now

Submitted by WhitesCreek on April 7, 2009 - 2:35pm.

The weather has been very cooperative in keeping the dust down. This will change as the summer dry season kicks in. A tremendous amount of work has been done to reduce the likelihood of a dust storm but we need to stay vigilant.

good bad or not

Submitted by unitedmountaind... on April 7, 2009 - 4:15pm.

UMD always just post our data regardless of the results--its our protocols. In our strip mine work we sometimes use 3 different pH test. If we get a variance between the 3 test we retest. If we still get the variance we report the variance and the type of test used.

We also invite anyone to participate in the test and observe them--video tape the test--etc. UMD is an open source organization.

We will continue to post raw data as we get it. And pics and video.

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