Mayday, Mayday – Breathing May Be Hazardous to Your Health

On this May 1st, here’s a rundown of air quality news:

• EPA reports the emissions data for 2006 indicates long term improvement in US air quality for 6 pollutants: NOx, ozone, SO2, particulate matter and lead. According to the EPA total emissions of these key pollutants have dropped 54% between 1970 to 2006.


• April 30 to May 4 is Air Quality Awareness Week. This year’s theme is “Be Air Aware: Keep an Eye on the AQI”. Established by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the EPA, this week is a reminder to the public of the importance of air quality forecasts in making health decisions.
  
  NOAA forecasts are updated twice daily on www.weather.gov/aq, providing hour-by-hour information on air quality for cities, suburbs, and rural areas located in the eastern US. Similar forecasts are now available for western United States through experimental products. Approximately 300 cities nationwide use the EPA’s Air Quality Index (AQI) found on http://www.airnow.gov/ to issue daily forecasts and offer steps that should be taken to reduce exposure to pollutants when levels are high.

• The American Lung Association has released its annual air quality report “State of the Air: 2007”, showing both good news and bad news. According to the report, the eastern United States shows an increase of almost double in the level of particle pollution, mainly due to an increase in power generation and coal-fired power plants. While in the west, deadly particle pollution has dropped. Overall, ozone has dropped throughout the entire country due to a reduction in NOx emissions thanks to 1990s air regulation requirements.
  
  Snapshots from the Report:
  According to the report, 46 percent (136 million people) of the U.S. population lives in 251 counties where they are exposed to unhealthful levels of air pollution in the form of either ozone or short-term or year-round levels of particles. About 38.3 million Americans -- nearly one in 8 people -- live in 32 counties with unhealthful levels of all three: ozone and short-term and year-round particle pollution.
  
  One-third of the U.S. population lives in areas with unhealthful levels of ozone, a significant reduction since the last report when nearly half did, yet 99 million Americans still live in counties with F grades for ozone.
  
  Roughly one in three (more than 93.7 million) people in the United States lives in an area with unhealthful short-term levels of particle pollution, a significant increase since the last report, which is only partially due to the new, slightly lower threshold of unhealthful air recognized in this report (based on the newly adopted national standards). Nearly one in five (more than 54 million) people in the United States lives in an area with unhealthful year-round levels of particle pollution.
  
  Los Angeles ranked as the most polluted city in the nation for all categories in the report, even though LA's pollution levels have dropped. Other cities ranking among the worst for ozone include several in southern California, as well as large cities in Texas and on the east coast, including Houston, Dallas, New York, Washington, DC, and Philadelphia. Other cities on the lists of the worst for particle pollution include many in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states, including Pittsburgh, Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, Washington, DC-Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York.
  
  With ozone pollution dropping in the eastern US, several cities returned to the list of most polluted cities despite improved ozone levels, including Atlanta, Phoenix, and Baton Rouge. They reappeared because of greater improvements by other cities. Some cities moved up to the worst cities for ozone list for the first time, including Las Vegas, Milwaukee and Kansas City.
  
  "The American Lung Association is fighting for tougher federal standards because they protect Americans from dangerous levels of air pollution," Dr. Weaver said. "Air pollution shortens lifespan, it lands our children and elderly in emergency rooms, and it can make children and teens more vulnerable to lung disease for the rest of their lives."

Top 10 cleanest U.S. cities for long-term particle pollution

1. Cheyenne, Wyoming

2. Santa Fe-Espanola, New Mexico

3. Honolulu, Hawaii

4. Great Falls, Montana

6. Flagstaff, Arizona

6. Tucson, Arizona

8. Anchorage, Alaska

8. Bismarck, North Dakota

10. Albuquerque, New Mexico

To find out how clean the air is in your community, go to http://www.lungusa.org/, enter your zip code in the widget and click go. A grade will be issued that is determined by high ozone and high particle pollution days. It also offers statistics for groups at risk according to the total population figures.

See the Source:
EPA – air quality and emissions trends
NOAA/EPA National Air Quality Awareness Week
Local air quality forecasts
NOAA
NOAA Air Quality Guidance (East U.S.)
NOAA Air Quality Guidance (West U.S.)
American Lung Association
Best and Worst Cities: State of the Air 2007