Ozone Precursor Monitoring

In 2021, Colorado released its Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction Roadmap. It lays out an achievable pathway to meet the state’s science-based climate targets of 26% by 2025, 50% by 2030 and 90% by 2050 from 2005 levels that were part of House Bill 19-1261 Climate Action Plan to Reduce Pollution.

Greenhouse gases from emitters such as cars, power plants, industrial boilers, refineries, chemical plants, and other sources create ground-level ozone and fine particulate matter via photochemical reactions in the presence of sunlight and warm temperature. These include non-methane volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and atmospheric methane. Ground-level ozone is a harmful air pollutant, because of its effects on people and the environment, and it is the main component of "smog."

For 2023, CDPHE will measure a variety of air toxics, including 78 non-methane VOCs and 10 carbonyls in air in 3-hour increments on a one-in-six day basis around the Front Range using either passive samplers, or an ATEC Model 2200-2 air toxics sampler. Eastern Research Group (ERG) is the laboratory contracted to perform sample analyses and will provide all sample media.