As Heat Rises, Beware of Ozone ; High Particle Levels in Air Prompt DEP Advisory

PATERSON – Thursday’s oppressive heat reminded Chayanne Hawkins of the day, three years ago, when her throat first closed up.

“It was really hot and I didn’t have a fan in my room,” said the 14-year-old. “It was scary and I didn’t know what was happening. My hair got fuzzed up. Sweat came from me everywhere. I was wheezing. I couldn’t breathe.”

It was the first time she’d ever had an asthma attack.

But despite Chayanne’s chronic asthma, she raced up and down the court Thursday as part of the Junior WNBA squad of the Boys & Girls Club of Paterson, battling a rival Passaic team in a stuffy gymnasium.

Her coach, aware of her condition, gave her bench breaks between plays.

“I’m into the basketball thing,” Chayanne said, taking a rest. “My aunt’s a nurse and she said being active would help me with my asthma.”

All across Paterson, young people living with asthma were out and about Thursday, despite an alert targeting them specifically by the state Department of Environmental Protection. The DEP issued an ozone and particle alert advisory directed at “sensitive groups,” including senior citizens, those with cardiac problems, and asthma sufferers.

“Ozone is a very reactive substance, if you breathe it in it’s almost like getting a sunburn in your lungs,” said Charles Pietarinen, chief of the bureau of air monitoring for the DEP.

“Ozone is kind of an indicator pollutant. Because it’s formed from a lot of other stuff, it shows there’s a lot of other stuff out there,” he said.

Pietarinen noted that ozone levels are a less-serious threat in urban areas than high particle content levels, which can include everything from dust to diesel emissions. Thursday’s air particle levels were classified as “unhealthy” for Passaic County by the DEP.

The department issued the alert – which Pietarinen expected to continue today – so that asthmatics and other at-risk individuals would stay inside to the extent possible, and not engage in strenuous activities.

Competing in a basketball tournament in a hot gym may not be what DEP scientists had in mind, but Chayanne said she had learned to manage her asthma.

“It’s kind of hard,” she said. “I can really hear myself when I’m wheezing, but it feels good,” she said of playing the first-ever game for the newly formed team.

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E-mail: henrys@northjersey.com