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Exceedances

Alberta’s Ambient Air Quality Objectives (AAAQOs) were developed under the Alberta Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act (EPEA) to protect Alberta’s air quality. AAAQOs are generally established for 1-hour, 24-hour, and annual averaging periods, depending on the characteristics of the pollutant. Ground-level concentration (GLC) exceedances are reported in the WBEA’s monthly and quarterly progress reports, which are submitted to the AEP, and posted on the WBEA’s website at wbea.org/about/wbea-progress-reports/. The graph below presents a total count of ground level concentration exceedances of the AAAQOs at all WBEA ambient air monitoring stations from 2004 to 2021 for each parameter which has an established AAAQO.

AAAQOs in the WBEA Network

The table shows the objectives for the parameters within the WBEA monitoring network which have established Alberta Ambient Air Quality Objectives (AAAQOs). The table outlines date ranges when respective AAAQOs were implemented in the province and within the WBEA network. Where there is a dash (-) in the table below AAAQOs do not exist.

Parameter Implementation Dates 1-hour Average 8-hour Average 24-hour Average 30-day Average Annual Average
Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) 1998-99 170 ppb - 60 ppb - 10 ppb
2000-10 172 ppb - 57 ppb - 11 ppb
2011 172 ppb - 48 ppb - 8 ppb
2012-19 172 ppb - 48 ppb 11 ppb 8 ppb
Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) 1998-99 210 ppb - 110 ppb - 30 ppb
2000-10 212 ppb - 106 ppb - 32 ppb
2011-19 159 ppb - - - 24 ppb
Ozone (O3) 1998-2003 82 ppb - 25 ppb - -
2004-18 82 ppb - - - -
2019 76 ppb - - - -
Total Reduced Sulphurs (TRS) / Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S)* 1998-2019 10 ppb - 3 ppb - -
Particulate Matter 2.5 (PM2.5) 2004-17 - - 30 ug/m3 - -
2018-19 - - 29 ug/m3 - -
Carbon Monoxide (CO) 1998-2019 13 ppb 5 ppb - - -
Ammonia (NH3)** 2006-19 2,000 ppb - - - -

*In the WBEA network TRS concentrations are reported using the H2S AAAQOs.

**There are no exceedances of the ammonia (NH3) AAAQO; therefore, no exceedance graph has been provided for this parameter.