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NEWS RELEASE
May 31, 2005
Contacts:
Rick Sprott, Director, Utah Division of Air Quality, (801) 536-0072
Laura Vernon, Utah Department of Environmental Quality, (801) 536-4484
(Salt Lake City, Utah) The Utah Department of Environmental Quality today introduced a new color code system that will make it easier for Wasatch Front residents to understand daily summertime ozone pollution conditions. By seeing the color code, residents will be able to make easy, convenient choices to protect their health and the environment from ozone’s damaging effects.
Use of the new system begins tomorrow when Wasatch Front counties officially enter the summer ozone season. It is similar to the “green, yellow, red” traffic light system used during the winter for particulate matter pollution. This is how the new color code system works:
The public should be prepared for health advisories during Yellow and Red days. Those who must drive can help reduce ozone by filling the gas tank or mowing the lawn in the evening, avoiding use of gasoline-powered engines on polluted days, keeping their car well-tuned and tires properly inflated, driving the speed limit, avoiding idling in drive-through lanes, delaying errands, consolidating trips or taking other actions listed on the Choose Clean Air Web site at www.cleanair.utah.gov.
“Making clean air choices everyday is paramount to protecting our health and the environment from the harmful effects of ozone,” said Rick Sprott, director of the Utah Division of Air Quality. “Every little bit that residents can do everyday helps the air we breathe in big ways. We hope this new system, in tandem with our Choose Clean Air Web site and Air Quality Index meter, will make it easier to understand air quality conditions and take action.”
According to Dr. Eric Wood, associate occupational medicine residency director at the Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine, ozone can irritate the respiratory system, causing coughing, throat irritation and/or an uncomfortable sensation in the chest. It can lower an individual’s resistance to diseases such as colds and pneumonia. Those who are most sensitive to its impacts are the very young, the elderly and those with pre-existing breathing problems. People with respiratory diseases whose lungs are more vulnerable to ozone may experience health effects earlier and at lower ozone levels than less sensitive individuals. Ozone also makes people more sensitive to allergens, the most common triggers of asthma attacks. Even healthy adults doing heavy exercise or manual labor outdoors may experience unhealthy effects during high ozone periods. This is because, during physical activity, ozone penetrates deeper into the parts of the lungs that are more vulnerable to injury.
“Estimates are that one in three Utahns experiences some type of respiratory problem during high pollution periods, and emergency room visits and hospital admission for asthma increase about 24 hours after ozone levels are high,” Wood said.
Studies have shown that ozone can inflame and damage the lining of the lungs. Within a few days, the damaged cells are shed and replaced — much like the skin peels after a sunburn. However, if this type of inflammation happens repeatedly over a long time period, lung tissue may become permanently scarred, resulting in less lung elasticity, permanent loss of lung function and a lower quality of life.
People can reduce their exposure to ozone, especially between 2 and 8 p.m. when ozone concentrations are at their highest, by spending less time participating in vigorous outdoor activities, taking it a little easier when outside and exercising in the morning or later in the evening.
Air quality conditions are updated daily at 6:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., or as conditions change. For the latest air pollution information, residents can visit the Choose Clean Air Web site at www.cleanair.utah.gov, call the Air Pollution Hotline at 975-4009 in Salt Lake and Davis counties or (800) 228-5434 in Utah and Weber counties, or subscribe to the Choose Clean Air listserv to be automatically notified by email when air quality conditions change.
To subscribe to the listserv and find out ways to Choose Clean Air, visit the Choose Clean Air Web site at www.cleanair.utah.gov. Utah’s summer ozone season runs through Sept. 30.
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