Clean Air Month 2006

Clean Air Month® 2006

Clean Air and Alternative Fuels Information
May is the American Lung Association's "Clean Air Month®," a national program celebrated each year to highlight the importance of improving air quality both indoors and outdoors.

San Diego and Imperial Counties' Air Still Unhealthful
Although progress has been made, San Diego County still has unhealthful air to breathe. San Diego does not meet the State one-hour ozone (smog) standard or the 8-Hour Federal ozone standard. The entire county does not meet the State 24-hour Particulate Matter 10 (PM10) standard. It is anticipated that San Diego's air quality measurements for 2005 will meet the current Federal Particulate Matter 2.5 (PM2.5) standard. But new, more health-protective standards are under consideration. Based on new health research, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected to issue new PM2.5 annual and 24-hour standards in September, 2006. If this occurs, San Diego may fail to meet the new PM 2.5 standards.

It should be noted that San Diego has attained the Federal one-hour standard for ozone and is in both Federal and State attainment for nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, lead and carbon monoxide.

Toxic air contaminants also pollute San Diego's air. Although levels of substances such as benzene and formaldehyde have decreased since 1990, according to the "2004 Air Toxics 'Hot Spots' Program Report for San Diego County" prepared by the San Diego Air Pollution Control District, in 2004 - 30,661,000 pounds of toxic air emissions entered San Diego's air for residents to breathe.

Why does San Diego not meet air quality health standards? The reason is that like many urban areas, the majority of ozone and particulate matter is produced from mobile sources such as cars, trucks and buses. In fact, about 50% of our air pollution comes from mobile sources. This is why it is very important to reduce use of petroleum-based fuels in our community.

Imperial County
Air Quality levels remain unhealthful in Imperial County. Currently, the community does not meet all the federal and state air quality health standards for ozone and particulate matter. For ozone, it exceeds both the federal 1-hour and 8-hour standard as well as the more health protective state ozone standard. For example, in 2003, Imperial County did not meet the state ozone standard on 23 days. Course particulate matter (PM10) has also been a persistent problem. Data posted by the California Air Resources Board show that during 2003, Imperial did not meet the state PM10 standard on 284 days. A trend is also emerging that shows an increase in fine particulate matter (PM2.5), with data showing that in 2003 Imperial had a maximum 24-hour concentration of 153.6 micrograms per cubic meter. Imperial County has the highest asthma hospitalization rates for children fourteen years of age and younger in California. Major sources of air pollution are automobile and truck emissions, border power plant and traffic emissions and agricultural processes.

What To Do?
Individual action, public policy and community activities all play a role in making air healthier to breathe. This year, focus on the use of clean fuels to power cars, buses, trucks and power plants. In order to improve air quality it is essential to move away from petroleum-based fuels and instead use compressed natural gas, electric, propane and methane fuels. We also need to support the continued development of hybrid and fuel cell vehicles.

To celebrate Clean Air Month® the Association has prepared a series of fact sheets on a variety of clean air topics to include Cleaner Fuels, Diesel Dangers, and Smart Growth. Click on the title of the sheet below to view or download a PDF file fact sheet.

Air Quality Links
These websites offer information on clean fuels, health effects of air pollution and solutions to improve air quality.

Learn about clean fuel programs in San Diego.
San Diego Clean Cities Coalition
www.sdrafvc.org

Join the Electric Vehicle Association of San Diego.
www.evaosd.com

Learn the latest information on fuel cell technology.
www.fuelcellpartnership.org

Look up air quality data for Imperial County
www.imperialvalley.org

Look up air quality data for San Diego County.
San Diego Air Pollution Control District
www.sdapcd.org

Look up air quality data for California communities.
California Air Resources Board
www.arb.ca.gov

Look up air quality data for areas throughout the country.
United States Environmental Protection Agency
www.epa.gov/air

Learn about the health effects of air pollution.
American Lung Association Web Sites
www.lungsandiego.org or www.lungusa.org

Learn about recent research findings for health impacts of ozone and particulate matter.
www.californialung.org. Click on Outdoor Air.

Find out about the Children's School Bus Exposure Study.
www.arb.ca.gov/research/schoolbus/sbfact.pdf

Learn about the Fresno Asthmatic Children's Environment Study
www.arb.ca.gov/research/faces/faces-fact.pdf

Acknowledgements

Clean Air Month® programs would not be possible without our sponsors.
Thanks to The Pratt Memorial Fund, Advanced Transportation Technology Program at Miramar College, San Diego Clean Cities Coalition and San Diego Air Pollution Control District for their support.

For more information call 1-800-LUNG USA.