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For Immediate Release Wednesday, May 17, 2006
EPA, CDPHE Asthma Program
Launch Air Quality Notification System for Denver
EPA’s EnviroFlash Provides Customized, Personal Air
Quality Alerts
May 17, 2006, Denver, CO — The Denver metropolitan area
is joining a growing list of communities across the nation participating
in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) EnviroFlash air
quality notification service.
EnviroFlash is an e-mail and pager notification system
that provides citizens with important air quality information.
EnviroFlash gives subscribers instant information that can be customized
for individual needs, allowing them to protect themselves and their
families. It allows subscribers to make decisions about outdoor
activities on a given day.
EnviroFlash is especially helpful for people who are at
greater risk from air pollution, including children, older adults, and
people with heart or lung diseases like coronary artery disease or
asthma. Air pollution is a known trigger of asthma attacks and can make
asthma symptoms worse.
“In Colorado, we have one of the highest rates of asthma
in the United States,” said Arthur McFarlane, manager for the Colorado
Asthma Program, which is based at the Colorado Department of Public
Health and Environment. “Asthma is an important public health issue for
us. EnviroFlash will benefit a lot of residents.
“EnviroFlash delivers Air Quality Index forecasts of
daily conditions of various airborne pollutants like particle pollution
and ground-level ozone. When these pollutants approach unhealthy levels,
exposure to the pollutants should be minimized,” McFarlane said.
For example, he said, strenuous physical activity should
be reduced or postponed at such times.
Denver-metropolitan area residents can sign up for
EnviroFlash by visiting the
EnviroFlash website. Registration is free of charge, and individuals
are only required to provide an e-mail address or a pager number.
Information will not be shared with any other parties or organizations,
and the Department of Public Health and Environment’s Air Pollution
Control Division and the EPA will only use it to transmit the
EnviroFlash notifications.
EnviroFlash allows participants to make plans based on
information that is reliable and daily. The messages include the same
local air quality forecast that is coordinated through television and
radio news media.
The Air Quality Index (AQI): The AQI is a color-based
index for reporting air quality; including how clean or polluted the
outdoor air is in a specific location and what associated health effects
may result. The AQI focuses on health effects a person may experience
within a few hours or days of breathing polluted air. EPA calculates the
index for five major pollutants regulated by the Clean Air Act:
ground-level ozone, particle pollution (also known as particulate
matter), carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. For each
pollutant, EPA has established national air quality standards to protect
public health.
Meteorologists in state and local air quality agencies
develop AQI forecasts using actual air quality data along with weather
forecast information. These forecasts are translated into a simple
color-coded key - the AQI - that illustrates how healthy or unhealthy
the air is.
The index shows who is at risk from certain levels of
pollution, including ground-level ozone and particle pollution, which
are two of the most common air pollutants in the US. Since these two
pollutants come from different sources and cause different health
effects, EPA provides separate Air Quality Index forecasts for each.
Ground-level Ozone is formed near ground level when
pollutants emitted by cars, power plants, industrial plants and other
sources react chemically in the presence of sunlight. Ozone pollution is
a concern during the summer months when lots of sun and hot
temperatures, the weather conditions needed to form ground-level ozone,
normally occur.
In terms of health effects, ozone can make it difficult
for some persons to breathe as deeply as they normally would, and can
cause symptoms, such as coughing, pain with a deep breath and shortness
of breath. It also aggravates asthma and other lung diseases, leading to
increased medication use, visits to doctors and emergency rooms, and
hospital admissions.
At elevated levels, ozone is a threat to everyone’s
health, but those who are most susceptible include people with lung
disease such as asthma and children and adults who are active outdoors.
Particle Pollution is composed of microscopic liquid
droplets and solids that can get deep into lungs and aggravate heart and
lung disease. Particle pollution comes from a wide range of sources,
including power plants, automobiles, wood stoves and forest fires, so
levels can be high any time of year. Symptoms can include coughing,
wheezing, shortness of breath, and unusual fatigue.
These particles can affect everybody to some extent, but
the most sensitive groups are children, people with heart or lung
disease, and older adults.
AIRNow was developed by the EPA in collaboration with
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; the National Park
Service; and tribal, state, and local agencies. The AIRNow Web page
provides the public with easy access to national air quality
information. The site, at www.airnow.gov,
offers daily AQI forecasts and real-time AQI conditions for almost 350
major cities across the country, and provides links to more detailed
state and local air quality Web pages.
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