Abstract

Historical records of tropospheric ozone from all over Chile were collected, and the ozone levels were analyzed. Compliance with the ozone standard was determined, and a statistical analysis was made to determine the origin of high ozone levels. It was found that the Chilean standard is exceeded in all the stations that are close to the slopes of the Andes Mountains in the central zone of Chile, where high is between 530 and 830 m.a.s.l, and the Las Condes and Los Andes stations exceed the Chilean primary standard and the USEPA secondary standard. Las Condes station is located in an urban and populated area with significant emissions of ozone precursors. However, Los Andes is a small city, where the high ozone levels recorded could be due to the transport of pollutants from other cities, which must be verified with photochemical modeling and local monitoring campaigns. We found that on the slopes of the Andes mountains range, there are the highest ozone levels in Chile. Therefore, it is recommended to install air quality monitoring stations in areas where the vegetation of the Andes mountains range is affected to evaluate the effect of ozone on the vegetation and the implementation of a secondary ozone standard in Chile. © 2023 Air and Waste Management Association. All rights reserved.