Airplane Traffic May be Major Contributor to Dangerous Air Pollution in Los Angeles

Los Angeles is known for its air pollution and now, scientists may have found part of the problem. They've discovered that airplane traffic could potentially be a major contributor to pollution in Los Angeles. Not only that, but the effects of this pollution can continue up to 10 miles away from the airport.

Past research has measured pollution from air traffic. But most of these studies only sampled air within a couple of miles of the airports that were studied. Not surprisingly, these analyses have found higher levels of pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides, and small particles less than .1 micron, which were attributed to airplane emissions.

Ultrafine particles are a major public health issue. They form from condensation of hot exhaust vapors and can deposit deeply into the lungs and even enter the bloodstream. This, in turn, can actually play a role in the development of atherosclerosis (blocked arteries) and can make other health conditions, such as asthma, worse.

In order to learn a little bit more about this air pollution, the researchers studied LAX, the sixth busiest airport in the world. Over a period of 29 days, they drove the area within 10 miles downwind of the airport in order to measure levels of air pollutants.

So what did they find? It turns out that over a 23-square-mile area, particle number concentrations were double that of background levels. Over 9 square miles, levels were five times higher than background. Within just 2 miles of the airport, particle number levels were a whopping 10 times higher than background levels.

The scientists didn't stop there, though. They also made sure to include the pollution created from automobiles. In the end, the scientists found that automobiles contributed less than 5 percent of the particle number concentration levels. This meant that LAX was one of the most important sources of this type of pollution in Los Angeles.

The findings reveal that airports can be a significant source of pollution. This is doubly important to note since residential areas are located within the 10-mile range of PAX.

The findings are published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.