County Chokes on Polluted Air
Posted on: Friday, 28 April 2006, 15:00 CDT
By Jennifer L. Boen, The News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Ind.
Apr. 28--Allen County continues to get a failing grade when it comes to air quality.
On Thursday, the American Lung Association released its annual State of the Air report, which ranks cities and counties with the dirtiest air and tells how each county rates with particle pollution -- more commonly called soot -- and ozone, or smog.
While Allen County is not found on any of the "worst 25" lists, it did receive an overall "F" grade -- the same as in 2004 and 2005.
More than 150 million Americans still live in counties where they are exposed to unhealthy levels of air pollution, despite noticeable improvements. "We're seeing the benefits of cleaning up dirty power plants with healthier air and a better quality of life," said John L. Kirkwood, president and CEO of the lung association.
"But that doesn't mean it's clean enough, and we've still got a lot of work to do."
According to a recent study done by Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, researchers found that for each single microgram decrease in soot per cubic meter of air, death rates from cardiovascular disease, respiratory illnesses and lung cancer decrease by 3 percent, which translates as giving 75,000 Americans an additional year of life, said Janice Nolen, director national policy for the lung association.
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Ozone ratings
Here are the findings of the State Air report for Allen County:
2006
Ozone grade: F
Orange ozone* days: 19
2005
Ozone grade: F
Orange ozone* days: 21
2004
Ozone grade: Passing
Orange ozone* days: 2
*Orange is unhealthy for sensitive groups.
--Over the last three years, Allen County has not had ozone levels in the most serious categories -- red being unhealthy for general population, and purple being very unhealthy.
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Read more
For the full air-quality report for the state and county, go to www.lungusa.org. [http://www.lungusa.org.]
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Copyright (c) 2006, The News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Ind.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
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Source: The News-Sentinel (Fort Wayne, Ind.)
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