Airborne Particulates

Particle pollution (also called particulate matter or PM) is the term for a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air. Some particles, such as dust, dirt, soot, or smoke, are large or dark enough to be seen with the naked eye. Others are so small, they can only be detected using an electron microscope. Particle pollution includes "inhalable coarse particles," with diameters larger than 2.5 micrometers and smaller than 10 micrometers and "fine particles," with diameters that are 2.5 micrometers and smaller. How small is 2.5 micrometers? Think about a single hair from your head. The average human hair is about 70 micrometers in diameter -- making it 30 times larger than the largest fine particle. These particles come in many sizes and shapes and can be made up of hundreds of different chemicals. Some particles, known as primary particles are emitted directly from a source, such as construction sites, unpaved roads, fields, smokestacks or fires. Others form in complicated reactions in the atmosphere of chemicals such as sulfur dioxides and nitrogen oxides that are emitted from power plants, industries and automobiles. These particles, known as secondary particles, make up most of the fine particle pollution in the country.

This information is updated hourly. All times shown are Local Standard Time.

Click here for a map showing the current PM-2.5 levels across Texas. Or, click here for the current Air Quality Index.

PM-2.5 (Local Conditions) Acceptable

Fine particulates (PM-2.5) are generally emitted from activities such as industrial and residential combustion and from vehicle exhaust. Fine particles are also formed in the atmosphere when gases such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and volatile organic compounds, emitted by combustion activities, are transformed by chemical reactions in the air. Large-scale agricultural burning or sand storms can produce huge volumes of fine particulates. PM-2.5 data is the near real-time measurement of particulate matter 2.5 microns or less in size from the surrounding air. This measurement is made at local conditions, and is not corrected for temperature or pressure.  

The table below contains hourly averages for PM-2.5 (Local Conditions) Acceptable on Monday, May 21, 2012.

JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember   12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031   19961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012   
Select a Region: All Active Regions Region 1 -- Amarillo Region 2 -- Lubbock Region 3 -- Abilene Region 4 -- DFW Region 5 -- Tyler Region 6 -- El Paso Region 7 -- Midland Region 9 -- Waco Region 10 -- Beaumont Region 11 -- Austin Region 12 -- Houston Region 13 -- San Antonio Region 14 -- Corpus Christi Region 15 -- Harlingen Region 16 -- Laredo Region 20 -- PM-2.5 Speciation Region 88 -- TCEQ Mobile Monitoring

Area	CAMS	Morning								POC	CAMS
		Mid	1:00	2:00	3:00	4:00	5:00	6:00	7:00
Amarillo - all times are in Central Standard Time
	320	6.98	7.67	6.70	9.03	6.85	5.77	8.00	FEW	3	320
Area	CAMS	Morning								POC	CAMS
		Mid	1:00	2:00	3:00	4:00	5:00	6:00	7:00
Lubbock - all times are in Central Standard Time
	325	5.80	5.74	5.27	5.12	5.23	5.09	7.31	FEW	3	325
Area	CAMS	Morning								POC	CAMS
		Mid	1:00	2:00	3:00	4:00	5:00	6:00	7:00
Abilene - all times are in Central Standard Time
	315	3.75	3.65	4.56	4.10	6.51	5.31	7.09	FEW	3	315
Area	CAMS	Morning								POC	CAMS
		Mid	1:00	2:00	3:00	4:00	5:00	6:00	7:00
Dallas-Fort Worth - all times are in Central Standard Time
	52	20.29	19.83	8.48	5.36	5.65	7.71	11.18	FEW	3	52
	56	5.06	5.57	3.72	4.61	5.06	8.04	11.41	FEW	3	56
	61	23.82	11.72	3.38	6.10	8.09	10.16	15.34		3	61
	71	13.20	5.97	5.57	4.24	4.24	6.25	9.72	FEW	3	71
	310	13.75	6.93	5.17	6.01	7.67	9.98	11.36		3	310
	1044	18.71	18.66	17.45	10.95	9.42	10.15	13.84	FEW	3	1044
	1051	12.74	13.82	15.83	16.80	15.61	13.26	22.31	FEW	3	1051
Area	CAMS	Morning								POC	CAMS
		Mid	1:00	2:00	3:00	4:00	5:00	6:00	7:00
Tyler-Longview-Marshall - all times are in Central Standard Time
	85	LIM	LIM	LIM	LIM	LIM	LIM	LIM	LIM	3	85
Area	CAMS	Morning								POC	CAMS
		Mid	1:00	2:00	3:00	4:00	5:00	6:00	7:00
El Paso-Juarez - refer to the first data column for each site's specific time zone
MST	12	10.15	9.09	7.44	6.69	8.79	10.92	FEW		3	12
MST	37	12.86	13.11	14.71	9.02	11.42	13.66	FEW		3	37
MST	40 †	13.51	13.07	10.53	8.60	12.24	18.25	FEW		3	40 †
CST	316	5.58	5.02	6.00	7.60	8.01	7.17	8.46	FEW	3	316
Area	CAMS	Morning								POC	CAMS
		Mid	1:00	2:00	3:00	4:00	5:00	6:00	7:00
Odessa-Midland - all times are in Central Standard Time
	47	6.22	7.58	7.75	7.73	7.24	8.86	10.35	FEW	3	47
	1014	6.16	6.42	7.45	8.31	7.25	7.64	FEW		3	1014
Area	CAMS	Morning								POC	CAMS
		Mid	1:00	2:00	3:00	4:00	5:00	6:00	7:00
Waco - all times are in Central Standard Time
	1037	17.37	10.24	11.62	13.51	10.86	13.57	24.78	FEW	3	1037
Area	CAMS	Morning								POC	CAMS
		Mid	1:00	2:00	3:00	4:00	5:00	6:00	7:00
Beaumont-Port Arthur - all times are in Central Standard Time
	64	12.86	10.73	13.49	11.63	14.26	16.79	17.32	FEW	3	64
	642	14.19	12.32	13.10	13.76	12.47	13.12	17.46		3	642
	689	8.76	9.25	8.08	9.49	10.93	13.34	15.04	FEW	3	689
	1050	9.07	10.00	8.61	10.21	9.87	13.36	15.89		3	1050
Area	CAMS	Morning								POC	CAMS
		Mid	1:00	2:00	3:00	4:00	5:00	6:00	7:00
Austin - all times are in Central Standard Time
	3	8.85	9.00	10.52	9.08	9.33	8.11	12.45	FEW	3	3
	38	LIM	LIM	9.01	9.00	8.16	8.71	10.84	FEW	3	38
	326	9.17	10.00	11.13	10.74	11.26	11.82	15.18		3	326
	601	11.93	13.23	12.23	9.56	11.90	11.32	18.51	FEW	3	601
Area	CAMS	Morning								POC	CAMS
		Mid	1:00	2:00	3:00	4:00	5:00	6:00	7:00
Houston-Galveston-Brazoria - all times are in Central Standard Time
	1	14.39	13.70	14.14	16.09	15.91	16.57	19.50	FEW	3	1
	8	16.09	14.65	15.32	15.71	15.20	15.51	18.00		3	8
	15	16.42	14.18	14.24	15.41	16.10	17.52	20.23	FEW	3	15
	35	12.95	11.97	12.81	14.23	12.43	16.78	20.38	FEW	3	35
	45	11.32	11.70	12.21	14.06	12.90	14.42	22.30	FEW	3	45
	78	18.88	15.05	15.34	13.65	12.23	12.01	14.12	FEW	3	78
	309	LIM	LIM	LIM	LIM	LIM	LIM	LIM		3	309
	403	14.24	15.55	14.98	FEW					3	403
	416	14.64	14.55	14.49	15.34	14.56	14.95	17.45	FEW	3	416
	572	PMA	PMA	PMA	PMA	PMA	PMA	PMA	PMA	3	572
	1034	PMA	PMA	PMA	PMA	PMA	PMA	PMA		3	1034
Area	CAMS	Morning								POC	CAMS
		Mid	1:00	2:00	3:00	4:00	5:00	6:00	7:00
San Antonio - all times are in Central Standard Time
	23	12.20	8.70	13.05	12.24	7.60	6.57	15.96	FEW	3	23
	59	9.73	7.70	9.84	9.36	11.44	12.69	14.28	FEW	3	59
	301	8.42	7.47	7.11	6.55	11.54	8.67	17.31	FEW	3	301
	622	9.55	7.16	8.29	8.56	10.42	13.64	15.12	FEW	3	622
	676	9.79	9.36	8.82	11.10	12.33	12.88	17.41	FEW	3	676
	677	10.23	8.65	8.36	11.65	9.99	9.30	18.77		3	677
Area	CAMS	Morning								POC	CAMS
		Mid	1:00	2:00	3:00	4:00	5:00	6:00	7:00
Corpus Christi-Victoria - all times are in Central Standard Time
	4	8.98	8.87	10.54	10.05	9.75	11.63	22.84	FEW	3	4
	314	8.14	8.12	7.34	6.98	7.27	8.30	9.33		3	314
Area	CAMS	Morning								POC	CAMS
		Mid	1:00	2:00	3:00	4:00	5:00	6:00	7:00
Lower Rio Grande Valley - all times are in Central Standard Time
	43	7.22	7.92	7.29	7.82	5.65	9.43	14.29	FEW	3	43
	80	8.88	7.57	8.23	8.05	8.61	15.64	17.36	FEW	3	80
Area	CAMS	Morning								POC	CAMS
		Mid	1:00	2:00	3:00	4:00	5:00	6:00	7:00
Laredo - all times are in Central Standard Time
	313	10.49	9.16	9.06	8.74	8.47	9.84	12.12	FEW	3	313
† This site has construction or other localized sources that can produce high readings that do not affect the overall metropolitan area.
Maximum values for PM-2.5 (Local Conditions) Acceptable for the day are bold within the table.
PM-2.5 (Local Conditions) Acceptable is measured in micrograms per cubic meter (local conditions)

PM-10 (Standard Conditions)

Coarse particulates (PM-10) come from sources such as windblown dust from the desert or agricultural fields (sand storms) and dust kicked up on unpaved roads by vehicle traffic. PM-10 data is the near real-time measurement of particulate matter 10 microns or less in size from the surrounding air. This measurement is made at standard conditions, meaning it is corrected for local temperature and pressure.  

The table below contains hourly averages for PM-10 (Standard Conditions) on Monday, May 21, 2012.

JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember   12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031   19961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012   
Select a Region: All Active Regions Region 1 -- Amarillo Region 2 -- Lubbock Region 3 -- Abilene Region 4 -- DFW Region 5 -- Tyler Region 6 -- El Paso Region 7 -- Midland Region 9 -- Waco Region 10 -- Beaumont Region 11 -- Austin Region 12 -- Houston Region 13 -- San Antonio Region 14 -- Corpus Christi Region 15 -- Harlingen Region 16 -- Laredo Region 20 -- PM-2.5 Speciation Region 88 -- TCEQ Mobile Monitoring

Area	CAMS	Morning								POC	CAMS
		Mid	1:00	2:00	3:00	4:00	5:00	6:00	7:00
El Paso-Juarez - all times are in Mountain Standard Time
	12	57.66	46.20	32.09	24.69	26.37	33.42	FEW		4 N	12
	37	50.84	40.69	45.25	20.23	20.45	31.04	FEW		4 N	37
Area	CAMS	Morning								POC	CAMS
		Mid	1:00	2:00	3:00	4:00	5:00	6:00	7:00
San Antonio - all times are in Central Standard Time
	301	15.17	16.98	17.00	16.07	16.23	16.74	36.74	FEW	4 N	301
Area	CAMS	Morning								POC	CAMS
		Mid	1:00	2:00	3:00	4:00	5:00	6:00	7:00
Lower Rio Grande Valley - all times are in Central Standard Time
	43	11.98	12.12	12.12	11.74	10.04	13.02	19.34	FEW	4 N	43
	80	17.14	14.47	13.33	12.17	16.24	29.67	35.85	FEW	4 N	80
Maximum values for PM-10 (Standard Conditions) for the day are bold within the table.
PM-10 (Standard Conditions) is measured in ug/cu meter (25 c)
N - Data from this instrument does not meet EPA quality assurance criteria and cannot be used for regulatory purposes.

PLEASE NOTE:  This data has not been verified by the TCEQ and may change. This is the most current data, but it is not official until it has been certified by our technical staff. Data is collected from TCEQ ambient monitoring sites and may include data collected by other outside agencies. This data is updated hourly. All times shown are in Local Standard Time.