The Environmental Protection Agency has certified the 2B Technologies Model 202 Ozone Monitor as a Federal Equivalent Method (FEM), which can now be used for monitoring of ground-level ozone by counties, states and other agencies for compliance with the Clean Air Act.
According to 2B Technologies, these low-power ozone monitors have been widely used over the past decade for atmospheric measurements using balloons, kites, research aircraft, and at many remote sites, including Antarctica, the Greenland ice sheet, the Amazon rain forest and the Arctic Ocean.
John Birks, co-founder and president of 2B Technologies, said: “The EPA certification greatly enhances the credibility of both past and present measurements made using our ozone monitors.”
Scientists at the National Park Service, US Forest Service, NOAA, EPA and many other government agencies and universities around the world are using Model 202 Ozone Monitors for measuring ozone in remote locations where only solar power is available.
The company claims the portable, low cost Model 202 Ozone Monitor will greatly facilitate the ability of the government agencies to monitor for compliance with the ozone standard, especially in rural areas.
Ozone is a toxic gas at ground level where it is produced by the action of sunlight on hydrocarbons and oxides of nitrogen emitted in smokestacks and automobile exhaust. It can reduce lung function and increase respiratory symptoms, thereby aggravating asthma or other respiratory conditions, thereby leading to premature death.
In effect of these, the EPA has set an upper limit of 75ppb for the eight-hour average concentration of ground-level ozone and is considering further lowering of that standard.
Colorado-based 2B Technologies invents, designs and manufactures portable instruments for air pollution measurements, and has recently launched the Global Ozone Project or ‘GO3 Project’, an outreach program for middle and high school students to measure ozone.