Our Dirty Air Taking Its Toll: 22nd Pollution Advisory of Winter Issued for Valley

By Mary K. Reinhart, The Tribune, Mesa, Ariz.

Feb. 15–The Valley’s recordbreaking pollution is taking its toll on the healthy and the sick.

Yet another high pollution advisory has been issued for today, the 22nd this winter and the fourth this month, because particulate levels have exceeded federal standards.

For people with asthma, heart or lung disease, that can be deadly.

For the rest of us, the dust and grime and tiny bits of tires and brake linings floating through the air can cause itchy eyes and scratchy throats, and block views of the Superstitions and Camelback Mountain.

And while experts say the lack of rain — a record 120 days as of tonight without even a trace of precipitation — has made the air quality worse, it’s not weather that causes pollution.

“What we’re seeing is an accumulation of the pollution we generate here in the Valley,” said Steve Owens, director of the state Department of Environmental Quality.

“It’s really a warning signal and should serve as a wake-up call about the kind of pollution problems we are confronting.”

Not only is particulate pollution easier to see than carbon monoxide and ozone pollution, but it’s arguably the most damaging, said Will Humble, chief of public health preparedness for the state Department of Health Services. More than a dozen studies have shown that increases in particulate levels correspond to a rise in hospital admissions for respiratory problems, Humble said.

“You can also see increases in mortality for respiratory causes,” he said. “As you increase particulate matter levels, you actually see increases in deaths.”

Officials with Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa and Scottsdale Healthcare said Tuesday their emergency rooms have been packed all winter with people suffering from a variety of respiratory problems, but they don’t know how many are pollution related.

The high pollution advisory means breathing the air can be unhealthy for certain people, and they’re urged to reduce outdoor activities. That includes an estimated 7 percent to 10 percent who are asthmatics.

“Thousands of people are going to have to change what they do or be better prepared with their medications or their inhalers on days like (today),” Humble said.

It’s also a signal to residents to turn off their leaf blowers, work from home, use carpools and reduce unnecessary trips, and for businesses to implement trip-reduction plans.

“There’s an awful lot that one person or one family can do,” Owens said. “While it may not seem like that person is making much of a dent in the pollution, collectively, when you’ve got tens of thousands of people doing that at the same time, it makes an impact.”

The Valley won’t meet federal clean air standards this year because of the record particulate levels, requiring the state to come up with a plan by next year to reduce particulates by 5 percent. That plan will include more and better monitoring of industry dust regulations, Owens said, but also could involve ways of designing new residential developments to reduce commutes.

In the meantime, some rain would help.

In addition to washing particulates out of the air, rain cleans the dirt and grime off the streets.

A low-pressure system moving into the state Thursday could cleanse the air somewhat, as will containment of the February fire near Payson, which was sending smoke west toward the Valley earlier this week. No rain is expected.

“It has been a very difficult winter for folks with breathing difficulties,” Owens said. “But even for folks who don’t have breathing difficulties normally, we’ve heard anecdotally about a lot more complaints, a lot more doctor visits.”

“It’s just not healthy to have this level of pollution for such a long time,” he said.

Learn more

For information about Valley air quality, or to get air quality forecasts, go to www.airnow.gov

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Tribune, Mesa, Ariz.

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