American Lung Association Issues State of the Air Report

First City Outside California (Pittsburth) Tops One of the Most-Polluted Lists

National Trends Show that Declines in Ozone and Particle Pollution Have Stalled

The American Lung Association issued its annual report card on air pollution today, ranking cities most affected by three types of pollution: short-term particle pollution, year-round particle pollution and ozone pollution. For the first time ever, a city outside California, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, tops one of the most polluted lists in the ninth consecutive American Lung Association State of the Air report.

Pittsburgh moved to the top of the list of cities most polluted by short-term levels of particle pollution, a deadly cocktail of ash, soot, diesel exhaust, chemicals, metals and aerosols that can spike dangerously for hours to weeks on end. The body’s natural defenses, coughing and sneezing, fail to keep these microscopic particles from burrowing deep within the lungs, triggering serious problems such as breathing, asthma and heart attacks, strokes, lung cancer and even early death. Pittsburgh also ranks second on the list of cities with the most year-round particle pollution while Los Angeles again claims the first spot this year.

Los Angeles, despite being ranked atop two of the three most-polluted lists, saw continued improvements in air quality, dropping its year-round particle pollution levels by nearly one-third during the last decade, and saw solid improvement in levels of ozone or “smog,” a gas formed most often when sunlight reacts with vapors emitted when motor vehicles, factories, power plants and other sources burn fuel. Ozone irritates the respiratory tract and causes health problems like asthma attacks, coughing, wheezing, chest pain and even premature death.

“The air quality in several cities has improved, but in others, declines in pollution have stalled. The trends tell us loud and clear that we need to do more to protect Americans from breathing air that’s simply hazardous to their health,” said Bernadette Toomey, President and Chief Executive Officer, American Lung Association. “We applaud the aggressive efforts of Los Angeles to control particle pollution. It’s proof that making a commitment to clean up pays off.”

Several cities across the country lost footing and slipped closer to the top of the list of most ozone-polluted cities, including San Diego, Atlanta, Charlotte and the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. metro area. Birmingham, Alabama, joined the list for the very first time, ranking at number 22 of most ozone-polluted cities, while the five worst cities on this list actually saw modest improvements. Fresno, California, for example, experienced a remarkable decline in the number of high ozone days since its peak in 2001-2003.

Due to the lead time for the State of the Air report, the American Lung Association used the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 1997 standard for ozone levels rather than the new tighter standard announced on March 12, 2008.

“If we were to measure the number of unhealthy days against the new ozone standard, it would show that ozone pollution is worse than the report indicates,” said Ms. Toomey. “Even with these stricter ozone standards, Americans are being denied the health protection they deserve under the Clean Air Act.”

National trends: declines in ozone and particle pollution have stalled.

New this year, the State of the Air report provides online charts showing the trends in ozone and year-round particle pollution in each of the 25 most polluted cities. The ozone charts cover data from 1996 to 2006, while the year-round particle pollution charts show trends from 2000-2006. In addition, the report incorporates the EPA analyses of ozone trend data from 1990 to 2006 and particle pollution trend data for 2000-2006. The State of the Air trend charts and the EPA analyses confirm that air pollution levels dropped in the early years of this century, but have leveled off in the last three years, particularly when controlled for weather.

Other Key Findings of State of the Air 2008:

- One in 10 people in the U.S. live in areas with unhealthful levels of all three types of pollution: ozone, short-term and year-round particle pollution.
- Two of five people in the U.S live in counties that have un­healthful levels of either ozone or particle pollution.
- Nearly one-third of the U.S. population lives in areas with unhealthful levels of ozone.
- Over one quarter of the people in the U.S. live in an area with unhealthful short-term levels of particle pollution.
- One in six people in the U.S. live in an area with unhealthful year-round levels of particle pollution.

The cities identified in the lists below most often include the respective metropolitan areas.

Top Ten U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Short-Term Particle Pollution: 1) Pittsburgh, Pa.; 2) Los Angeles/Long Beach/Riverside, Calif.; 3) Fresno/Madera, Calif.; 4) Bakersfield, Calif.; 5) Birmingham, Ala.; 6) Logan, Utah 7) Salt Lake City, Utah ; 8) Sacramento, Calif.; 9) Detroit, Mich.; 10) Baltimore, Md./Washington, D.C./Northern Virginia.

Top Ten U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Year-Round Particle Pollution: 1) Los Angeles/Long Beach/Riverside, Calif.; 2) Pittsburgh, Pa.; 3) Bakersfield, Calif.; 4) Birmingham, Ala.; 5) Visalia/Porterville, Calif.; 6) Atlanta, Ga.; 7) Cincinnati, Ohio; 8) Fresno/Madera, Calif. 9) Hanford/Corcoran, Calif.; 10) Detroit, Mich.

Top Ten U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Ozone: 1) Los Angeles/Long Beach/Riverside, Calif.; 2) Bakersfield, Calif.; 3) Visalia/Porterville, Calif.; 4) Houston, Texas; 5) Fresno/Madera, Calif. 6) Sacramento, Calif. 7) Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas; 8) New York, N.Y./Newark, N.J.; 9) Baltimore, Md./Washington, D.C./Northern Virginia; 10) Baton Rouge, La.

To see what grade (A to F) your community’s air quality earned, visit the American Lung Association website at http://www.lungusa.org/. Tips are also available on how to protect yourself and your family from air pollution.

air pollution
particle pollution

Half Measures and Compromises Are Not Good Enough

Statement of Bernadette Toomey, President and Chief Executive Officer
American Lung Association: March 12, 2008

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a critical tightening of the health-based National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone. We wish we could be happier about this decision, but we cannot. The standard announced today, although an improvement, falls far short of the requirements of the Clean Air Act. We are unable to celebrate half measures when the risks are so evident, when the science and the scientists are so united about what is needed and when the missed opportunity means that thousands will suffer more and die sooner than they should. Furthermore, we reject the suggestions made by the Administrator to weaken and undermine the Clean Air Act itself. Coming from the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, such suggestions are truly outrageous.

Certainly, today’s decision on the health-based standard opens a welcome new phase in the attack against the most widespread air pollutant in the nation—and among the most dangerous. A tighter ozone standard sets in motion new steps to clean up air pollution. The ozone standard the EPA adopted strengthens the protection for millions of Americans from the air pollutant often known as smog. Yet, by stopping far short of the mark, the EPA action today denies millions more the protection they deserve from their government.

Ozone smog threatens the health of infants, children, seniors, and people who have asthma, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and other lung diseases. For these people, breathing smog-polluted air can make them cough and wheeze, restrict their airways, worsen their diseases, force them to the hospital and even kill them. Even healthy young adults and people who exercise or work outdoors can suffer from high levels of ozone pollution.

Today’s decision means that millions of Americans will not get the protection that the law requires. According to the nation’s landmark air pollution law, the Clean Air Act, the EPA must set our air quality standards at levels that protect the health of the public, including children, older people, and people who suffer from chronic lung diseases. The EPA’s own expert scientific advisors unanimously recommended a stronger standard that would provide much more protection—advice the Agency ignored. Sixteen major medical societies and public health organizations—including the American Lung Association—repeatedly urged the EPA to follow the overwhelming evidence for a truly protective standard. Our recommendations also went unheeded.

Instead of following the law, the Administrator has proposed, incredibly enough, dismantling the core principles that are embodied in the Clean Air Act—legal requirements that have enabled us to reduce deadly forms of air pollution. The Administrator offers to play “pick your poison” with public health, allowing the state and local governments to determine which pollutants to ignore and which to clean up. The Clean Air Act recognized these pollutants as the national priority because they were the most widespread and dangerous. The Act assigned the EPA Administrator the responsibility to set standards to protect the health of all of the public from these pollutants, not just some people, and required the states and local governments to reduce the burden of all these pollutants, not just some of them. History has shown that when communities pick and chose who gets protected, those left behind, exposed to the worst, are usually the weak, the young, the old and those who face life-threatening disease. The Administrator cannot promote such discrimination.

Basic to those principles is the requirement that the national ambient air quality standards protect public health with an adequate margin of safety. The Supreme Court unanimously confirmed that protecting public health be the sole basis for the Administrator’s decision on a standard. History has shown that principle to be sound. The Administrator proposes to change the Clean Air Act to violate that principle. That is completely unacceptable.

Despite arguments from polluters, thirty years of evidence shows that protecting public health has not harmed the economy—nor is it likely to do so in the future. We would encourage the Administrator to read his own website to see the EPA chart documenting that we’ve been able to cut emissions by half while the economy soared.

Given the real dangers to the most vulnerable members of each of our families, EPA’s decisions today represent a compromise the public can ill afford. The Agency moved closer to the need but not only failed to follow the law, the Agency is now supporting fundamentally weakening the Clean Air Act itself.

See the Source:

American Lung Association

EPA Strengthens Smog Standards to Better Protect Public Health and the Environment

Announcement by the EPA: 03-12-08

EPA today met its requirements of the Clean Air Act by signing the most stringent 8-hour standard ever for ozone, revising the standards for the first time in more than a decade. The agency based the changes on the most recent scientific evidence about the effects of ozone, the primary component of smog.

“America’s air is cleaner today than it was a generation ago. By meeting the requirement of the Clean Air Act and strengthening the national standard for ozone, EPA is keeping our clean air progress moving forward,” said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson.

The new primary 8-hour standard is 0.075 parts per million (ppm) and the new secondary standard is set at a form and level identical to the primary standard. The previous primary and secondary standards were identical 8-hour standards, set at 0.08 ppm. Because ozone is measured out to three decimal places, the standard effectively became 0.084 ppm: areas with ozone levels as high as 0.084 ppm were considered as meeting the 0.08 ppm standard, because of rounding.

In announcing the new ozone standard Administrator Johnson also announced that he will be sending Congress four principles to guide legislative changes to the Clean Air Act.

“The Clean Air Act is not a relic to be displayed in the Smithsonian, but a living document that must be modernized to continue realizing results. So while the standards I signed today may be strict, we have a responsibility to overhaul and enhance the Clean Air Act to ensure it translates from paper promises into cleaner air,” Johnson concluded.

The four principles outlined by the administrator recommend that the Clean Air Act and the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS); 1) must protect the public health and improve the overall well-being of our citizens; 2) should allow decision-makers to consider benefits, costs, risk tradeoffs, and feasibility in making decisions about how to clean the air; 3) should provide greater accountability and effective enforcement to ensure not only paper requirements but also air quality requirements are met, especially in areas with the furthest to go in meeting our standards; 4) should allow the schedule for addressing NAAQS standards to be driven by the available science and the prioritization of health and environmental concerns, taking into account the multi-pollutant nature of air pollution. While the administrator stated that these changes are needed to modernize the Clean Air Act, the nation will still benefit from the new standard.

The United States has made significant progress reducing ground-level ozone across the country. Since 1980, ozone levels have dropped 21 percent as EPA, states and local governments have worked together to improve the quality of the nation’s air. EPA expects improvement to continue, as a result of landmark regulations such as the Clean Air Interstate Rule, to reduce emissions from power plants in the East, and the Clean Diesel Program, to reduce emissions from highway, nonroad and stationary diesel engines nationwide.

Ozone can harm people’s lungs, and EPA is particularly concerned about individuals with asthma or other lung diseases, as well as those who spend a lot of time outside, such as children. Ozone exposure can aggravate asthma, resulting in increased medication use and emergency room visits, and it can increase susceptibility to respiratory infections.

Ground-level ozone is not emitted directly into the air, but forms when emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) “cook” in the sun. Power plants, motor vehicle exhaust, industrial facilities, gasoline vapors and chemical solvents are the major human-made sources of these emissions. EPA estimates that the final standards will yield health benefits valued between $2 billion and $19 billion.

Those benefits include preventing cases of bronchitis, aggravated asthma, hospital and emergency room visits, nonfatal heart attacks and premature death, among others. EPA’s Regulatory Impact analysis shows that benefits are likely greater than the cost of implementing the standards. Cost estimates range from $7.6 billion to $8.5 billion. EPA selected the levels for the final standards after reviewing more than 1,700 peer-reviewed scientific studies about the effects of ozone on public health and welfare, and after considering advice from the agency’s external scientific advisors and staff, along with public comment. EPA held five public hearings and received nearly 90,000 written comments.

As part of today’s action, EPA also has updated the Air Quality Index (AQI) for ozone to reflect the change in the health standard. The AQI is EPA’s color-coded tool for communicating daily air quality to the public.

See the Source:

EPA - Revised Standards

Clean Air Act

Communities Reduce Smog Ahead of Schedule

EPA plans to designate 13 areas as attaining the 1997 8-hour ozone standard under Early Action Compact agreements. EPA is proposing this action because each of the areas has demonstrated that they attained the standard by Dec. 31, 2007.

Early Action Compacts give certain local areas the flexibility to develop their own approach to meeting the 8-hour ozone standard, provided the communities control emissions from local sources earlier than the Clean Air Act would otherwise require. For areas that do not meet the ozone standard, attainment dates range from 2009-2021, depending upon the severity of the ozone problem.

The 13 Early Action Compact areas that have attained the 8-hour ozone standard are:
- Frederick County/Winchester, Va. Roanoke, Va.
- Washington County/Hagerstown, Md.
- Berkeley and Jefferson Counties, W.Va.
- Hickory area, N.C.
- Greensboro area, N.C.
- Fayetteville, N.C.
- Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, S.C.
- Columbia area, S.C.
- Chattanooga area, Tenn.
- Nashville area, Tenn.
- Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol area, Tenn.
- San Antonio area, Texas

EPA has been working with these areas to reduce ground-level ozone, or smog, as quickly as possible. Together with EPA, these communities entered into agreements called Early Action Compacts. The Early Action Compacts program has provided a strong incentive for state and local governments, civic leaders and business to develop innovative, cost-effective strategies for improving ozone air quality that are tailored to individual communities.

By reducing pollution ahead of schedule, these communities are bringing sustainable health and environmental improvements to their residents sooner than would have been achieved without these agreements.

See the Source:
EPA - Early Action Compact Program

Healing the Ozone Layer

The Earth's ozone layer is on track to heal, thanks to the work of dozens of countries that signed a landmark international environmental agreement initiated 20 years ago.

Known as the "Montreal Protocol," this ambitious treaty requires countries to phase out production and use of compounds that deplete ozone in the stratosphere. Initially signed by 24 countries Sept.16, 1987 in Montreal, this treaty today covers 191 countries and is widely hailed as the most successful international environmental agreement to date.

"Twenty years ago, the community of nations came together to adopt a global strategy for the global challenge of ozone depletion. Today, we at EPA join our international partners in celebrating the anniversary of the Montreal Protocol – a shining example of how human ingenuity, leadership and determination can create a healthier, better world," said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson.

Each of the countries that signed the Protocol has measurable goals and actions for achieving success. These include phasing out production and use of ozone-depleting substances such as chlorofluorocarbons, halons, carbon tetrachloride, and methyl chloroform. Scientific evidence demonstrates that these compounds significantly deplete the stratospheric ozone layer, which shields the planet from damaging ultraviolet radiation.

The United States has implemented key parts of the Montreal Protocol more rapidly and at significantly less cost than originally anticipated. With the help of many partners, EPA has also approved more than 300 alternatives to ozone-depleting substances for industrial, commercial, and consumer uses. Many of these new technologies also save energy and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

As a result of U.S. efforts combined with those worldwide to phase out ozone depleting substances, the ozone layer has not grown thinner since 1998 over most of the world. Antarctic ozone is projected to return to pre-1980 levels around 2060 to 2075. EPA estimates that between 1990 and 2165, an estimated 6.3 million U.S. lives will be saved as a result of these international actions to protect and restore the ozone layer.

Sept. 16, 2007, is International Ozone Day and marks the 20th Anniversary of the signing of the Montreal Protocol. The United States and various partner countries around the world are meeting in Montreal to discuss the importance of continuing the progress made to protect the ozone layer, and to celebrate the important achievements of the past 20 years and the people and programs that work to protect the Earth's ozone layer.

See the Source:
EPA - 20th Anniversary of the Montreal Protocol

environment

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

EPA Completes Second Step in Ongoing Ground-Level Ozone Air Quality Standards Review

A key document in EPA's review of national air quality standards for ozone will recommend the administrator consider strengthening the current ozone standards to better protect public health. The document, known as the "final staff paper," contains staff recommendations for the administrator to consider in upcoming decisions about revising the agency's ozone standards.

The Clean Air Act requires EPA to periodically review its air quality standards to ensure they continue to protect health and the environment, and to update the standards if necessary. EPA last updated the standards for ozone in 1997.

The final ozone staff paper addresses a primary standard, designed to protect public health; and a secondary standard, set to protect the public welfare, including crop health.

· Primary standard: The final staff paper concludes that the current primary standard is not adequate to protect public health. Staff made this conclusion based on an expanded body of scientific evidence that shows significant ozone health effects occur even in areas with ozone levels below the current standard.

Staff recommends a range of levels for the administrator to consider in setting the ozone standard. That range extends from below 0.080 ppm down to 0.060 ppm. The previous draft of the staff paper identified options that included retaining the current standard of 0.084 ppm, along with a range of alternative levels down to 0.064 (the lowest level analyzed), with a focus on a level of 0.07 ppm.

The final staff paper also recommends specifying the level of the standard to three decimal places. Ozone air quality measurements have advanced sufficiently to now reflect that level of precision.

· Secondary Standard: The final staff paper recommends the administrator set a secondary standard to protect against ozone damage to welfare, including damage to plants. This includes damage to natural vegetation, forests and commercial crops. Staff recommended a standard that is a cumulative, weighted total of daily 12-hour exposures over a three-month period within the growing season. It would give greater weight to exposures at higher ozone concentrations.

Staff also recommended a range for this standard, from 21 parts per million-hours to 7 parts per million-hours.

EPA will make the final ozone staff paper available on the web on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2007. Also this week, the agency will release technical documents used in developing the staff paper. These documents include a health risk assessment for meeting the current ozone standards along with potential alternative standards, and an assessment of the effects of ozone on vegetation.

The assessments, conclusions and recommendations included in the staff paper are staff judgments. They do not represent agency decisions on the ozone standards. EPA will propose action on the ozone standards by June 20, 2007 and take final action by March 12, 2008.

EPA recently changed the process for reviewing the National Ambient Air Quality Standards to streamline future such reviews to ensure the agency meets its five-year deadlines for reviewing the standards.

Emissions of the pollutants that contribute to ground-level ozone have decreased by nearly 50 percent since 1970, and EPA, and state and local agencies have a number of programs in place to continue this progress.

See the Source:
Final Ozone Staff Paper and Fact Sheet
Technical Support Documents

Find out:
The impact of NOx, a major contributor to ground-level ozone, and how to decrease NOx emissions by up to 95% using CleanAIR's selective catalytic reduction.