The Herald Sun
November 24, 2014
“Revise ozone limit”
Written by Rebecca Geary, RN, BSN
View the original here.
I am the mother of four grown children and grandma of eight. All of my adult years have been spent living a healthy lifestyle that included a clean diet, daily exercise and avoiding secondhand cigarette smoke. Nonetheless, in 2007 I was diagnosed with lung cancer and underwent extensive surgery to remove one of my lungs.
I have fought very hard to expand the capacity of my one lung up to near capacity of two lungs, and I make a concerted effort to always avoid breathing unhealthy air. For that I rely on the Environmental Protection Agency, which sets limits on pollutants, including ozone (smog) — our country’s most widespread pollutant. Ozone poses multiple, serious threats to our health, and much of North Carolina regularly breathes unhealthy levels of this pollutant.
When the smog level is over the EPA’s limit, we get an air quality alert, and people like me with lung disease know that they should exercise indoors that day. Right now, that limit on ozone is out of date. That means there may be days when it’s unhealthy to breathe outdoors that we never even hear about. That’s why I’m joining the American Lung Association to call on EPA to set a new limit on ozone pollution that truly protects our health. The science clearly shows that we need a more protective limit on this pollutant. We have the right to know what’s in our air.
Rebecca Geary
Durham, NC
