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Glossary

Acidic deposition –	refers to deposition of a variety of acidic pollutants (acids or acid-forming substances such as sulphates and nitrates) on biota, land or in waters of the earth’s surface.
Air Quality Index –	real-time information system that provides the public with an indication of air quality in rural and urban areas across Ontario.
AQI station –	continuous monitoring station used to inform the public of air quality levels on a real-time basis; station reports on criteria pollutants.
Air Pollution Index –	basis of Ontario’s alert and control system to warn of deteriorating air quality; derived from 24-hour running averages of sulphur dioxide and suspended particles.
Ambient air –	outdoor or open air.
Biogenic –	produced by living organisms.
Carcinogen –	an agent that incites carcinoma (cancer) or other malignancy.
Continuous pollutant –	contaminant for which a continuous record exists; effectively, pollutants that have hourly data (maximum 8,760 values per year except leap year ‐ i.e. 2000 where maximum values for the year are 8,784).
Continuous station –	where pollutants are measured on a real-time basis and data determined hourly (as for example ozone, sulphur dioxide).
Criterion –	maximum concentration or level (based on potential effects) of contaminant that is desirable or considered acceptable in ambient air.
Daily pollutant –	with a 24-hour or daily value (maximum 365 values per year).
Detection limit –	minimum concentration of a contaminant that can be determined.
Exceedance –	violation of the pollutant levels permitted by environmental protection criteria.
Fossil fuels –	natural gas, petroleum, coal and any form of solid, liquid or gaseous fuel derived from such materials for the purpose of generating heat.
Geometric mean –	statistic of a data set calculated by taking the nth root of the product of all (n) values in a data set. Provides a better indication than arithmetic mean of the central tendency for a small data set with extreme values.
Global warming –	long-term rise in the average temperature of the earth; principally due to an increase in the buildup of carbon dioxide and other gases.
Ground-level ozone –	colourless gas formed from chemical reactions between nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons in the presence of sunlight near the earth’s surface.
Inhalable particles –	represent up to 60 per cent of the total suspended particulate matter; composed of both coarse (diameter 2.6 to 10.0 microns) and fine (diameter < 2.5 microns) particles; also referred to as PM10.
Micron –	a millionth of a metre.
Median –	middle value of a set of numbers arranged in order of magnitude.
Non-continuous station –	station that measures pollutant concentration on a daily, six-day frequency or monthly cycle (as for total suspended particulate matter).
Ozone episode day –	a day on which widespread (hundreds of kilometres) elevated ozone levels (greater than 80 ppb maximum hourly concentration) occur simultaneously.
Particulate matter –	refers to all airborne finely divided solid or liquid material with an aerodynamic diameter smaller than 100 microns.
Percentile value –	percentage of the data set that lies below the stated value; if the 70 percentile value is 0.10 ppm, then 70 per cent of the data are equal to or below 0.10 ppm.
Photochemical oxidant –	air pollutants formed by the action of sunlight on oxides of nitrogen and VOCs.
Photochemical reaction –	chemical reaction influenced or initiated by light, particularly ultraviolet light.
Photochemical smog –	see smog.
Primary pollutant –	contaminant emitted directly to the atmosphere.
Respirable particles –	particles smaller than about 2.5 microns in diameter, which arise mainly from condensation of hot vapours and chemically-driven gas to particle conversion processes; also referred to as PM2.5. These are fine enough to penetrate deeply into the lungs and have the greatest effects on health.
Secondary pollutant –	contaminant formed from other pollutants in the atmosphere.
Smog –	a contraction of smoke and fog; colloquial term used for photochemical fog, which includes ozone and other contaminants; tends to be a brownish haze.
Smog advisory –	public is advised when elevated pollution levels are forecast due to ground-level ozone.
Smog day –	day on which widespread ground-level ozone (AQI greater than or equal to 50) occurred/declared.
Smog season – ­	defined as the period May 1 - September 30.
Stratosphere –	atmosphere 10 to 40 kilometres above the earth’s surface.
Stratospheric ozone –	ozone formed in the stratosphere from the conversion of oxygen molecules by solar radiation; ozone found there absorbs much ultraviolet radiation and prevents it from reaching the earth.
Suspended particles –	suspended particulate matter most likely to reach the lungs (diameter less than 25 microns).
Toxic deposition –	absorption or adsorption of a toxic pollutant at ground, vegetative or surface levels.
Toxic pollutant –	substance that can cause cancer, genetic mutations, organ damage, changes to the nervous system, or even physiological harm as a result of prolonged exposure, even at relatively small amounts.
Troposphere –	atmospheric layer extending about 10 kilometres above the earth’s surface.

Abbreviations

AAQC -	Ambient Air Quality Criteria (Ontario)
API -	Air Pollution Index
AQI -	Air Quality Index
AQUIS -	Air Quality Information System
CO -	carbon monoxide
CO2 -	carbon dioxide
COH -	coefficient of haze reported as SP
CWS -	Canada-Wide Standard
EC -	Environment Canada
EMRB -	Environmental Monitoring and Reporting Branch
EST -	Eastern Standard Time
GLB -	Great Lakes Basin
H2S-	hydrogen sulphide
INS-	insufficient data to calculate statistic
IP-	inhalable particles
LIMA -	Lambton Industry Meteorological Alert
MOE -	Ministry of the Environment
NAAQS -	National Ambient Air Quality Standard (U.S.)
NAPS -	National Air Pollution Surveillance
NO -	nitric oxide
NO2 -	nitrogen dioxide
NOx -	nitrogen oxides
O3 -	ozone
PM2.5 -	particles less thanv2.5 microns
PM10 -	particles less than 10 microns
RP -	respirable particles
SO2 -	sulphur dioxide
SOx -	sulphur oxides
SP -	suspended particles
TEOM -	Tapered Element Oscillating Microbalance
TRS -	total reduced sulphur
TSP -	total suspended particles
US EPA -	United States Environmental Protection Agency
VOCs -	volatile organic compounds
kg -	kilogram
kt -	kilotonne
ng/m³ -	nanograms (of contaminant) per cubic metre (of air)
µg/m³ -	micrograms (of contaminant) per cubic metre (of air)
ppb -	parts (of contaminant) per billion (parts of air)
ppm -	parts (of contaminant) per million (parts of air)

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