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Assessing Outdoor Air Near Schools

East Elementary School - East Liverpool, OH

EPA selected this school for monitoring because it is located near two industrial facilities owned by the same company, S.H. Bell (Stateline and Little England facilities) that handle and store bulk and packaged products including metals, minerals, and various industrial products. Air monitoring data previously collected by Ohio EPA (OEPA) identified elevated levels of manganese in the air near the facilities.  The initial monitoring identified elevated concentrations of one key pollutant – manganese – that warranted additional monitoring at this school. We are reporting concentrations of manganese from this additional monitoring in the table below.  While manganese is the key pollutant at this monitoring location, other metals (such as arsenic) were also measured and that data is also available (PDF) (3p, 39k)

About the Data
The table below shows the levels of the key pollutant in air samples collected at the monitoring site beginning in June 2011 and continuing through January 2012. The table also includes the individual “sample screening levels” for manganese. EPA developed this screening level to help the Agency and the community get an early sense of what the data were showing. The sample screening level is a level of pollution in the air that is below what we expect to cause health problems from short-term exposures – all day, every day over a period ranging up to at least a couple of weeks (longer, for some pollutants).     These screening levels are used only as guidelines for this project.     

About The Table

Compare the sample results to the short-term screening level at the top of the table. Numbers at or below that level indicate the pollutant is not likely to pose immediate health concerns.

To use the screening level, compare it to each sample result:

  • a sample result at or below the sample screening level is not a concern for risk of health problems from short-term exposures.
  • a sample result above the screening level does not mean that there is a risk to children and adults at the school.  It is a signal for EPA to further evaluate those and subsequent results for that pollutant. 

EPA analyzed the potential for health concerns from long-term exposure. This analysis can be found under the Final Analysis tab. Monitoring results are in the table below.

Sample Results
Key Pollutants Manganese
(Nanograms/ cubic meter)
Sample Screening Level 500
06/26/11 10.7
07/02/11 262
07/08/11 344
07/14/11 985
07/20/11 279
07/26/11 152
08/01/11 180
08/07/11 9.62
08/13/11 118
08/19/11 1540
08/25/11 25.8
08/31/11 1230
09/06/11 1530
09/12/11 993
09/18/11 29.8
09/24/11 12.2
09/30/11 6.63
10/06/11 928
10/12/11 2450
10/18/11 295
10/24/11 123
10/30/11 9.68
11/05/11 75.5
11/11/11 20.3
11/17/11 17.2
11/23/11 34.7
11/29/11 30.3
12/05/11 524
12/11/11 28.6
12/17/11 7.21
12/23/11 4.20
12/29/11 1850
01/04/12 11.2
01/10/12 145
01/16/12 326
01/22/12 19.1
01/28/12 8.16

Also monitored (PDF) (3p, 39k)

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