The standards are listed in .  Primary standards are designed to protect human health, with an adequate margin of safety, including sensitive populations such as children, the elderly, and individuals suffering from respiratory diseases.  Secondary standards are designed to protect public welfare, damage to property, transportation hazards, economic values, and personal comfort and well-being from any known or anticipated adverse effects of a pollutant. A district meeting a given standard is known as an "attainment area" for that standard, and otherwise a "non-attainment area".
Standards are required to "accurately reflect the latest scientific knowledge," and are reviewed every five years by a Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC), consisting of "seven members appointed by the EPA administrator."
EPA has set NAAQS for six major pollutants listed as below. These six are also the criteria air pollutants.
* Each standard has its own criteria for how many times it may be exceeded
* As of June 15, 2005, the 1-hour ozone standard no longer applies to areas designated with respect to the 8-hour ozone standard (which includes most of the United States, except for portions of 10 states).
* Source: [https://www.epa.gov/criteria-air-pollutants/naaqs-table USEPA]