Air Quality Guide for Ozone

 Air Quality
    Index

     Good
     (0-50)

   Moderate
    (51-100)


 Unhealthy for
Sensitive Groups
   (101-150)
   Unhealthy
   (151-200)
 Very Unhealthy
   (201-300)
                  Protect Your Health
No health impacts are expected when air quality is in this range.
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting prolonged
outdoor exertion.
The following groups should limit prolonged outdoor exertion:
•  People with lung disease, such as asthma
•  Children and older adults
  People who are active outdoors
The following groups should avoid prolonged outdoor exertio
•  People with lung disease, such as asthma
•  Children and older adults
•  People who are active outdoors
Everyone else should limit prolonged outdoor exertion.
The following groups should avoid all outdoor exertion:
•  People with lung disease, such as asthma
•  Children and older adults
•  People who are active outdoors
Everyone else should limit outdoor exertion.
  What You Should Know About Ozone and Your Health

  • Ozone in the air we breathe can harm our health—particularly on hot, sunny days when ozone
    can reach unhealthy levels.
  • Even relatively low levels of ozone can cause health effects.
  • People with lung disease, children, older adults, and people who are active outdoors may be
    particularly sensitive to ozone.
  • Ozone exposure may also increase the risk of premature death from heart or lung disease.
  • This fact sheet tells you how you can find out when air quality is unhealthy and take simple
    steps to protect your health.


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What is ozone?
Ozone is a colorless gas found in the air we breathe. Ozone
can be good or bad depending on where it occurs:
 •   Ozone occurs naturally in the Earth's upper atmosphere
    (the stratosphere), where it shields the Earth from the
    sun's ultraviolet rays.
 •   At ground-level, ozone is an air pollutant that can harm
    human health.

Where  does ground-level ozone come from?
Ground-level ozone is formed when two types of pollutants
react in the presence of sunlight. These pollutants are known
as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and oxides of nitrogen.
They are found in emissions from:
 •   Vehicles such as automobiles, trucks, buses, aircraft,
    and locomotives
 •   Construction equipment
 •   Lawn  and  garden equipment
 •   Sources that combust fuel, such as large industries and
    utilities
 •   Small industries such as gas stations and print shops
 •   Consumer products, including some paints and cleaners

Does my area have high ozone levels?
 •   Ozone is particularly likely to reach unhealthy levels on
    hot sunny days  in  urban environments. It is a major part
    of urban smog.
 •   Ozone can also be transported long distances by wind.
    For this reason, even rural areas can experience high
    ozone levels.
 •   The Airnow Web site at airnow.gov provides daily air
    quality reports for many areas. These reports use the
    Air Quality Index (or AQI) (shown on the first page) to tell
    you how clean or polluted the air is.
     Keep the Air Cleaner
      Conserve energy—at home, at work, everywhere. Turn off
      lights you are not using.
      Car pool or use public transportation. When air quality is
      healthy, bike or walk instead of driving.
      Combine errands to reduce vehicle trips.
      Limit engine idling.
      When refueling: Stop when the pump shuts off. Putting more
      fuel in is bad for the environment and can damage your ve-
      hicle. Avoid spilling fuel. Always tighten your gas cap securely.
    Office of Air Quality and Radiation (6301 A)
    EPA456-F-08-001
    www.airnow.gov
    March, 2008
 •  Enviroflash, a free service, can alert you via email
    when your  local air quality is a concern. Sign up at
    www.enviroflash.info.

How does ozone affect health?
Ozone can:
 •  Make it more difficult to breathe deeply and vigorously.
 •  Cause shortness of breath and pain when taking a deep
    breath.
 •  Cause coughing and sore or scratchy throat.
 •  Inflame  and damage the lung lining.
 •  Make the lungs more susceptible to infection.
 •  Aggravate lung diseases such as asthma, emphysema,
    and chronic bronchitis.
 •  Increase the frequency of asthma attacks.
 •  Continue to damage the lungs  even when the symptoms
    have disappeared.
These effects may lead to increased school absences, visits
to doctors and  emergency rooms, and hospital admissions.
Research also indicates that ozone exposure may increase
the  risk of premature death from heart or lung disease.

Who is sensitive to ozone?
Some people are more sensitive to ozone than others. Sensi-
tive groups include children; people with lung disease, such
as asthma, emphysema, or chronic bronchitis; and older
adults. Even healthy adults who are active outdoors can expe-
rience ozone's harmful effects.

What is an Air Quality Action Day for Ozone?
Your State or local air quality agency may declare an Air Qual-
ity Action Day for Ozone when ozone levels  are forecast to
reach unhealthy levels. On ozone action days, you can take
simple  steps (see below) to reduce the  pollution that results
in ground-level ozone.
• Keep your car, boat, and other engines tuned up.
• Inflate your car's tires to the recommended pressure.
• Use environmentally safe paints and cleaning products
  whenever possible.
• Follow manufacturers' recommendations to use and prop-
  erly seal cleaners, paints, and other chemicals so smog-
  forming chemicals can't evaporate.

On Air Quality Action Days, you should also:
• Refuel cars and trucks after dusk, when emissions are less
  likely to produce ozone.
• Delay using gasoline-powered lawn and garden equip-
  ment until air quality is healthy again.
• Delay using household, workshop, and garden chemicals
  until air quality is healthy again.
                         For more information, visit www.airnow.gov

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