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Get Informed About Smog Safety
The 2012 smog season began on May 1, so it is time to bookmark Georgia Environmental Protection Division's (EPD) smog forecast web site. Air quality predictions are posted mid-afternoon each day for the following day. Keep in mind that the color codes are based on limits less strict than the limits recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency's scientific advisory team. As a result, if you or someone in your family has asthma or another respiratory disease or heart disease, or is unusually sensitive to air pollution, you may want to pay attention to "high yellow" days, as well as orange and red predictions. Read more about summer smog from Dr. Roby Greenwald, Emory scientist, below.
To help curb the number of "bad air" days this summer in Georgia's urban areas, please consider making a commitment to at least one personal action to reduce your contribution to smog this summer. At the same time, ensure you have the tools you need to reduce your and your family's exposure to smog by reviewing and sharing our guidance documents on outdoor air quality and physical activity.
Contact us if you have trouble getting your child's caregiver to follow these expert guidelines for reducing exposure to air pollution.
Georgia's Summertime Air Pollution
Contributed by Dr. Roby Greenwald, Assistant Research Professor, Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University
The months of May to September are the time of year when the ozone problem in Atlanta is at its worst. Ozone is a secondary pollutant, which means that it is not emitted by cars or power plants, but it is formed in the atmosphere from other pollution that is emitted from these sources. The main reason ozone is highest in summer is because sunlight is an essential ingredient in the chemical reactions that form ozone, and sunlight is of course much more intense in the summer than other times of year. Another consequence of the secondary nature of ozone is that the concentration is evenly distributed around the region. In other words, when there is an ozone alert in Atlanta, there is no outdoor space you can go to in the entire metropolitan area and not breathe high amounts of ozone.
Ozone has serious health implications. Children, the elderly, and people with asthma are more susceptible to ozone’s health effects, but even healthy people can be affected. Ozone is an airway irritant, and even at modest levels, healthy people can develop an itchy feeling in their throat from breathing ozone. Ozone can make asthma symptoms worse, and in fact, the number of people whose asthma is so bad they have to go to the emergency room increases after the ozone level goes up. In addition, repeated exposure to ozone during childhood can cause a significant number of people to develop asthma who otherwise would never have gotten it. Estimates of the economic costs associated with ozone’s health effects exceed $1 billion per year nationwide, but this estimate cannot account for the pain experienced by those who suffer or die from these health effects.
In order to reduce your family’s exposure to ozone, it is important to pay attention the ozone forecast. The concentration of ozone varies in the summer based on the weather, but it is almost always highest in the afternoon and early evening. If ozone is predicted to be high on a particular day, it is best to conduct outdoor physical activity in the morning instead of the afternoon if possible. If it is not possible to reschedule outdoor activity, then doing that activity indoors if possible is preferable, although ozone can still be high in a building with open doors and windows.
Lastly, all of us who live in the Atlanta area are responsible for the ozone problem in some small way. That’s because ozone is formed from pollutants that are emitted by driving cars as well as by coal-burning electrical power plants. If each of us were to drive less, there would be less ozone. Or to be more specific, if we were to burn less fuel, there would be less ozone, so more fuel-efficient cars reduce air pollution. In many parts of Atlanta, the infrastructure has been developed in such a way that frequent car trips are a necessity of life; however, each of us should try to combine automobile trips or use other forms of transportation that reduce fuel consumption.
What Should We Expect from Smog Season 2012?
Bill Murphey with Georgia EPD expects smog to be at least as bad as usual this year due to hot and possibly dry conditions. Read his interview with WABE news.
Get Informed About Asthma
Do you, your child or another family member have asthma? American Lung Association in Georgia (ALAG) offers programs and resources to help families effectively manage asthma.
Browse ALAG programs offered in Georgia.
Learn about Camp Breathe Easy, offered every summer at Camp Twin Lakes for children with asthma.
AIR QUALITY 101
| What Is Air Pollution? |
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| Air pollution is a variety of substances and gases in our air that pose risks to health. Important air pollutants include ozone, nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), particulate matter (PM), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), toxic substances such as mercury and some naturally occurring substances such as pollen. Read more. |
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What is Smog or Ozone?
Smog is another term for ground level ozone, which is formed when nitrogen oxide (NOx) combines with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the presence of sunlight. NOx are a by-product of fossil fuel combustion (oil, natural gas, coal) and so come from cars and trucks, power plants, and industrial processes.
What is Soot or Particulate Matter?
Particle pollution, or particulate matter (PM), is a mixture of solids and liquid droplets that vary in size. PM includes aerosols and fine solids, such as dust. These particles can get trapped in the lungs and cause pulmonary and circulatory problems, as well as trigger asthma attacks. High levels of PM has also been linked to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and slow lung function growth in children. Read More about how exposure to particulate matter exacerbates respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.
What is Mercury?
Methylmercury (MeHg) is a developmental neurotoxin that interferes with brain development. Human exposure results principally from consumption of fish and other seafood contaminated by mercury. Significant amounts of mercury are emitted from Georgia’s coal-fired power plants. Read about Georgi's 2007 rule that requires tighter controls for mercury emissions.
Health Effects of Bad Air
Exposure to many pollutants in the air can result in a range of adverse health effects from shortness of breath and coughing to heart attacks and lung cancer.
Medical Perspectives on Air Pollution
Read Scientific and Medical Expert Perspectives on Smog and Health
Mothers & Others for Clean Air partner organization Rollins School of Public Health at Emory is home to a number of leading air pollution scientists. Read Dr. Jeremy Sarnat's publication linking different kinds of fine particulate matter to emergency department (ED) visits and Dr. Matthew Strickland's paper demonstrating a clear connection between ozone and traffic pollution and pediatric ED visits in Atlanta.
Read about a major study in California showing that air pollution is not just a problem for children and adults with asthma. Children in polluted areas developed asthma at higher rates and had slower lung function growth than children in less polluted areas.
Read the latest Report on Childhood Asthma from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Protecting Children from Air Pollution
In 2007, Mothers & Others for Clean Air united a group of air quality, public health and medical experts to update public health guidelines that outline appropriate levels of outdoor activity on smog alert days. This document serves as the basis for educating schools, athletic directors, pediatricians and other health professionals, day care centers, other child care providers and the general public on the appropriate precautions to take when air quality is poor.
 Mothers & Others for Clean Air thanks Kaiser Permanente for its generous support in making possible the production and distribution of thousands of guidance documents for Georgia Schools and Georgia Families.
Sign Up for Smog Alert Emails
Read About Childhood Asthma
Find Resources About Sending Your Child Back-to-School with Asthma
Fact Sheets
Better Transportation for Better Health
Health Effects of Bad Air
How Does Air Pollution Affect Animals?
Particulate Matter 101
Personal Action to Reduce Air Pollution
Safer and Healthier School Buses
What is Air Pollution?
Additional Information
Clean Air Act in Plain English
Physicians for Social Responsibility
More information on air pollution and health
American Lung Association
Outdoor Air Quality
Indoor Air Quality
Georgia Agency responsible for monitoring ambient air quality
The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD), Air Protection Branch
National Collaborative Work Group on Green Cleaning and Chemical Policy Reform in Schools
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