Ozone pollution advisory issued by American Lung Association

UA student Katie Doherty woke up last Tuesday morning with a scratchy throat, wheezing and a cough. At the same time, the Tucson branch of the American Lung Association issued a smog advisory for the city area.

The advisory was issued for June 17 and 18 to alert people who suffer from asthma or severe allergies of high ozone-pollution levels.

Doherty, a communication junior and asthma sufferer, said she felt better by Thursday night - a full day after the smog advisory ended.

Ground-level ozone pollution is not the same as the protective ozone layer in the stratosphere. According to the Department of Environmental Quality, it is formed when nitrogen oxide emissions and carbon-based chemicals, called hydrocarbons, react with in tense sunlight.

Referring to the warning, Martha Salvado, technical operations manager for the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality, said, "We're not penalizing the community, just advising them."

Roughly 5 percent to 10 percent of the University of Arizona population suffers asthma, said Dr. Fernando Martinez, an asthma specialist at the Arizona Health Science Center.

Salvado said the Environmental Protection Agency's clean air standards are not strict enough because the EPA is supposed to re-evaluate its standards every five years, and it has not done so, she said.

The EPA's standard for ozone pollution is 0.120 parts per million ozone for any one hour of exposure, Salvado said. That number is comparable to just one grain of black sand in 10 million grains of white sand, she said.

Salvado said the ozone-pollution levels reached 0.089 parts per million June 17 and 0.093 parts per million June 18.

Martinez said the ozone pollution is the highest when the sun is the most intense.

Salvado said the county's clean-air department, within the Department of Environmental Quality, reports the area's pollution levels twice a day to the EPA.

"This (last week's level) is below current standards," Salvado said.

Since the early 1990s, The American Lung Association has been conducting their own study of the affects of ozone pollution on people with asthma or severe allergies, said Jennifer Jones, director of the pediatric and adult lung disease department for the Tucson branch.

Because the EPA does not require an advisory to be issued, the Tucson branch has begun issuing voluntary smog advisories to benefit those people in the community who would be most affected by ozone pollution.

Doherty said she believed there was a definite correlation between feeling sick last Tuesday and the high ozone pollution levels that day.

"I had real problems with my asthma," said Doherty, who was first diagnosed with asthma when she was 5 years old.

Dr. Jacob Pinnas, allergy specialist and medical director for the Arizona Health Science Center, said pollutants in the air irritate the throat airways and inflame the lungs, making it difficult to breath.

The ozone pollutants release a chemical within the lungs, causing spasms in the airways and "wheezing" for people with asthma, he said.

Pinnas said asthma patients think that they are going to be cured when they move to the Southwest. But, he said, some patients' conditions actually worsen here.

Pinnas said the smog in Arizona is more dense in pollutants than smog in Los Angeles because Los Angeles' smog is actually a mixture of water and pollutants, making it less potent.

Salvado said the community should expect the ozone pollution levels to increase in July and August, the hottest times of the year.

Auto emissions and planting of allergens such as grasses and weeds have increased the air pollution and pollen/mold count 20 fold in the past 50 years, Pinnas said.

Martinez said three groups of people are the most affected medically by ozone pollution:

• Children
• The 2 percent to 3 percent of people with "severe" asthma
• People who exercise outdoors.

The best time for outdoor activity is early in the morning, around 6, because in the afternoon the pollen count is higher and the smog is worse, Pinnas said.

Martinez said the ozone pollution "dries up" during the night, or dissipates, causing the pollution levels to be lower by the early morning.