Pima County ozone levels close to violating national standard
PIMA COUNTY, AZ ( Tucson News Now) - It's officially ozone season in Pima County and according to the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality, as a result of a new, more stringent health standard, ozone levels are now very close to violating the new standard.
"It's a real problem for people in our community," said Beth Gorman, senior program manager for PDEQ.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently changed the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone from 75 parts per billion to 70 ppb.
Gorman said if Pima County were to violate this standard, it would be a first for the county.
"It's definitely something we want to try to reduce as much as possible," Gorman said. "People with asthma, people with bronchitis or emphysema; those sorts of people are going to be really impacted when we have high levels of ozone."
Gorman said if the county were to violate the standard, the county could end up losing federal funding for transportation and roads.
She also said some businesses could also be forced to adjust their emissions.
During ozone season, which is typically now through September, ground-level ozone values start to increase.
Gorman said cars are the largest single source of the emissions in Pima County that form the ozone.
When it gets a "nose-level," Gorman said it can be harmful to people's health, specifically those with asthma, children, the elderly, and even people who are active outdoors.
Dr. Samuel Kim, section chief of thoracic surgery at Banner - University Medical Center, was one of several doctors at a conference on Friday, April 15, held by The University of Arizona College of Medicine and Banner - UMC about lung cancer and lung diseases.
He said high ozone levels have shown to increase malignancies such as melanoma, which can have a serious impact on those who work outdoors.
"They would be at higher risk of developing malignancies," Kim said. "Those people who work outside a lot should protect themselves with sunscreen. If they see a new spot on their skin or new lesions on the skin, they should go see their dermatologist."
Dr. James Knepler focuses on pulmonary and critical care at Banner- UMC and sees a lot of patients with asthma.
He said high ozone levels can also have a huge affect on his patients.
"As the pollution and the ozone goes up, we see more hospitalizations and more kids missing school," Knepler said.
According to EPA, ozone can have even more health effects such as:
- Difficulty to breathe deeply.
- Shortness of breath and pain when taking a deep breath.
- Coughing and sore or scratchy throat.
- Inflamed and damaged airways.
- Aggravated lung diseases such as asthma, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis.
- Increased frequency of asthma attacks.
- Reduced lung function and harm lung tissue.
- Make the lungs more susceptible to infection.
- Continue to damage the lungs even when the symptoms have disappeared.
EPA will decide if the southern Arizona region meets the new health standard in October 2017.
They're going to be using an average of the past three years' worth of ozone data from PDEQ.
So Gorman highly recommends some of the following ways to help reduce ozone levels this summer.
- Driving less and sharing rides
- Taking public transit
- Biking or walking when possible
- Combining errands into one trip
- Properly inflating tires
- Stopping at the click when refueling to avoid spills
- Refueling after 5 p.m.
- Limiting engine idling
PDEQ monitors for ozone at eight different monitoring sites throughout eastern Pima County. Air quality data can be found HERE.
For more information about environmental quality in Pima County, click here: www.pima.gov
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