Commentary

Toxics Monitoring for Houston with Air Alliance Houston

Air Alliance Houston is excited to announce an incredible new opportunity for citizens of the City of Houston who have experienced problems with volatile organic compounds emanating from local businesses. In partnership with the City of Houston’s Bureau of Pollution Control and Prevention, Air Alliance Houston now has the ability to take samples of air toxics with a regulatory standard device – a SUMMA air canister.

SUMMA canisters take samples of the ambient air. The samples are then sent to a laboratory where theair is analyzed for the presence and concentration of over sixty different volatile organic compounds. The canisters do not sample well for semi-volatile organic compounds and are also not used for sampling particulate matter or ozone.

If you or someone you know has regularly smelled chemicals which you suspect to come from a local business within the City of Houston, then please contact Matthew Tejada or Cecilia Dykes at Air Alliance Houston (713-528-3779, tejada@airalliancehouston.org, cecilia@airalliancehouston.org) and we will work with you to take a sample of the pollution.

Businesses which would typically have the ability to release pollutants appropriate for SUMMA canister sampling include paint shops, gas stations, dry cleaners, print shops, refineries, chemical and petrochemical facilities and chemical storage facilities.

If you reside within the City of Houston and have experienced exposure to a pollutant that you suspect is a volatile organic compound, please get in touch with us. We are excited about this new opportunity afforded to us through the Bureau of Pollution Control and Prevention and would like to utilize these resources to their fullest potential.