Air Toxics of Concern
	State Maps
	County Risk Ratio Tables

In order to determine whether the New Jersey air concentrations predicted for the 33 air toxics in USEPA’s1996 National-Scale Air Toxics Assessment (NATA) presented a potential problem for human health, NJDEPcompared them to their chemical-specific health benchmarks. To do this, we divided the modeled air concentration by the health benchmark concentration to get a number we call a risk ratio. If the risk ratio for a specific chemical is less than one, the air concentration does not pose a health risk. If it is greater than one, it may be of concern. The risk ratio also shows just how much higher or lower the estimated air concentration is than the health benchmark.

For more information on health benchmarks, risk assessment, and health effects of air toxics, click here.

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THE 19 AIR TOXICS OF GREATEST CONCERN IN NEW JERSEY

Our preliminary analysis of the state and county average air toxics concentrations generated by NATA indicates that 19 of the chemicals were predicted to exceed their health benchmarks in one or more counties in 1996. 18 of these are cancer-causing (carcinogenic) chemicals, and one (acrolein) is not carcinogenic. Predicted concentrations of these 19 pollutants vary around the state, depending on the type of sources that emit them. This is summarized in the table below. For more information click on point, area, and mobile sources, and background concentrations.

Pollutant of Concern	Extent	Primary Source of Emissions
Benzene	Statewide	Mobile; Background Concentration
1,3-Butadiene	Statewide	Onroad Mobile
Carbon tetrachloride	Statewide	Background Concentration
Chloroform	Statewide	Background Concentration; Point
Diesel particulate matter	Statewide	Nonroad Mobile
Ethylene dibromide	Statewide	Background Concentration
Ethylene dichloride	Statewide	Background Concentration
Formaldehyde	Statewide	Mobile
Acrolein	20 Counties	Mobile
Polycylic organic matter	20 Counties	Area
Chromium compounds	17 Counties	Area
Acetaldehyde	13 Counties	Mobile
Perchloroethylene	11 Counties	Area; Background Concentration
7-PAH	5 Counties	Area
Arsenic compounds	4 Counties	Area; Point
Cadmium compounds	4 Counties	Area
Nickel compounds	4 Counties	Area
Beryllium compounds	1 County	Area
Hydrazine	1 County	Area

To view 1990 CEP air toxics of concern click here.

MAPS SHOWING THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE 1996 AIR TOXICS OF CONCERN IN NEW JERSEY

According to the 1996 NATA results, there were 19 pollutants for which the risk ratios were greater than one, and therefore, of concern. To look at a state map showing the spatial variation in modeled air concentrations for a chemical of concern, click on the chemical name:

For information about using Health Benchmarks, click here

To view maps for the 1990 CEP air toxics of concern for New Jersey, click here.

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COUNTY RISK RATIO TABLES

To see a table containing the 1996 NATA-predicted air concentrations, health benchmarks, risk ratios, and source category contributions for each of the 33 air toxics analyzed in NATA, click on the state name or county names below.