• Petroluem refineries contribute to air pollution.Industrial Refinery image by Chad McDermott from Fotolia.com
  
  According to the Mississippi Department of Environmental Qaulity's 2009 Air Quality Data Summary, "EPA has set national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for six principal air pollutants (also called criteria pollutants): Ground-Level Ozone (O3), Particulate Matter (PM), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), Sulfur Dioxide (SO2), Carbon Monoxide (CO), and Lead (Pb). The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) monitors all of these pollutants except lead and carbon monoxide." These air pollutants come from a variety of sources in Mississippi.
  
  

Refineries and Ozone

• According to MDEQ's 2009 Air Quality Data Summary, ozone is often found downwind of sources that emit volatile organic compounds such as cars, power plants, industrial boilers, refineries and chemical plants. Oil production and oil refineries are found in many places along the Gulf coast, including Mississippi. Risk World, a web news resource, says that "of the 148 oil refineries in the United States, 17 are located in Louisiana and four are in Mississippi."
  
  

Electricity, Emissions and Sulfur Dioxide

• The MDEQ 2009 Air Quality Summary says that more than 65 percent of all sulfur dioxide emissions come from electric plants--particularly coal burning plants. Sulfur dioxide can also come from other sources including petroleum refineries, cement factories and metal processing plants. In addition to the four petroleum refineries located in Mississippi, the Mississippi Power Company is planning to build a 582 megawatt coal-burning electric plant that will begin producing power by 2014.
  
  

The 2010 Gulf Oil Spill

• According to Switchboard, the National Resources Defense Council staff website, attempts to clean up the oil spill that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico in the summer of 2010 "can also have air quality impacts that can be hazardous to human health. Burning oil creates particle pollution (particulate matter), known as PM-10 or PM-2.5 depending on its size, that can cause health problems for clean-up workers or residents who are downwind of burn areas. Particulates can make the air seem smoky or hazy but may also be present at hazardous levels even when the air appears clear." The site says that the EPA is monitoring levels these pollutants states along the gulf coast, including Mississippi, and has noticed levels in several locations that could be considered unhealthy.