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Ozone levels have not improved during past four years - Brief Article

Nearly half of all Americans (ie, more than 137 million people) breathe unhealthy amounts of toxic air pollution, according to a May 1, 2003, news release from the American Lung Association. The American Lung Association State of the Air: 2003 report, which grades and ranks counties' air quality based on the Environmental Protection Agency's air quality index for ozone air pollution, indicates that no significant improvements in ozone levels have occurred during the past four years.

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Ozone is a highly reactive form of oxygen that occurs from an action of sunlight on hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides that are emitted from fuel combustion and other sources. Ozone levels typically are highest between May and October due to higher summer temperatures, increased sunlight, and stagnant atmospheric conditions. Ozone can affect healthy people's ability to breathe, and long-term exposure can lead to respiratory disease. Children, older adults, and people with asthma are at greatest risk for breathing problems related to ozone.

For the fourth year in a row, four California metropolitan areas (ie, Los Angeles, Fresno, Bakersfield, Visalia-Tulare-Porterville) have been ranked as the smoggiest cities in the United States. Other metropolitan areas topping the list of the most ozone-polluted include

* Houston-Galveston-Brazoria, Tex;

* Sacramento-Yolo, Calif;

* Merced, Calif;

* Atlanta;

* Knoxville, Tenn; and

* Charlotte, NC.

More than half of the counties with ozone monitors received an F grade. Two metropolitan areas that were among the top ten most ozone-polluted cities in the 2002 report--Redding, Calif, and Chattanooga, Tenn--were not among the top ten this year; however, both cities still received an F grade despite the change in rank.

State of the Air 2003: Nearly Half the Nation at Risk from Smog--Overshadows Temporary Improvement (news release, New York: American Lung Association, May 1, 2003) http://www.lungaction.org/reports/sota03_release 1.html (accessed 7 May 2003).

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Ozone levels have not improved during past four years - Brief Article

AORN Journal, June, 2003

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