New Englanders Offered Free Smog Forecasts and Alerts

BOSTON, Massachusetts, May 10, 2004 (ENS) - To help the public prepare if there is poor air quality this summer, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is offering free air quality forecasts and alerts.

Current air quality conditions and next day forecasts are available each day at the agency’s website at: http://www.epa.gov/region1/airquality/smogalrt.asp.

These alerts, provided free by EPA in cooperation with the New England states, automatically notify participants by e-mail or fax when high concentrations of ground-level ozone or fine particles are predicted in their area.

“Ground-level ozone smog is a significant public health threat in the Northeast," said Robert Varney, regional administrator of EPA’s New England Office. “New Englanders should pay close attention to ozone warnings and limit strenuous outdoor activity during air quality alert days. They should also take individual actions to reduce the air pollution that contributes to this public health risk.”

Ground-level ozone, or smog, is formed when volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides interact in the presence of sunlight, particularly when temperatures are high. Ground-level ozone is distinct from ozone in the ozone layer 10 to 30 miles above the earth, which protects from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays.

Cars, trucks and buses are a primary source of the pollutants that make smog. Fossil fuel burning at electric power plants, particularly on hot days, also generates smog forming pollution. Gas stations, print shops, household products like paints and cleaners, as well as lawn and garden equipment, also contribute to smog formation.

To help cut ozone-smog the EPA is encouraging people to use public transportation or walk whenever possible. If driving is necessary, go in car pools and combine errands into one trip.

The EPA suggest that motorists fill up at the gas station at night to cut down on gasoline vapors emitted into the air during daylight hours when the sun can cook the vapors and form smog.

Again this summer, the EPA is asking that people use less electricity by turning air conditioning to a higher temperature setting and turning off lights and computers when they are not being used.

When air quality is poor, the agency asks that people avoid using gasoline powered engines, such as lawn mowers, chain saws and leaf blowers.

Ground level ozone is considered unhealthy when average concentrations exceed 0.08 parts per million over an eight hour period.

Poor air quality affects everyone, but some people are particularly sensitive to ozone, including children and adults who are active outdoors, and people with respiratory diseases, such as asthma.

Exposure to elevated ozone levels can cause serious breathing problems, aggravate asthma and other pre-existing lung diseases and make people more susceptible to respiratory infection. When elevated ozone levels are expected, the EPA recommends that people limit strenuous outdoor activity.

Improvements in air quality are expected as states begin to implement plans to meet the new eight hour ozone standard, but that will not happen this summer. The first step in this process occurred last month when the EPA designated areas that are not complying with the more health protective eight hour standard that replaced the previous one hour ozone standard.

All of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, as well as parts of New Hampshire and Maine, are out of compliance. States with these nonattainment areas must submit plans by 2007 detailing how they will meet this tougher ozone standard.