Individual and Community

American Lung Association

State of the Air 2009 Report
Iowa
http://www.stateoftheair.org/2009/states/iowa/

For Particle Pollution:

Johnson County Gets an F with 11 Orange Days (Unhealthy for Sensitive Populations)

Linn County Gets an F rating with 10 Orange Days

What you can do
Individual citizens can do a great deal to help reduce air pollution outdoors as well. Simple but effective ways include:

• Drive less. Combine trips, walk, bike, carpool or vanpool, and use buses, subways or other alternatives to driving. Vehicle emissions are a major source of air pollution. Support community plans that provide ways to get around that don’t require a car, such as more sidewalks, bike trails and transit systems.
• Don’t burn wood or trash. Burning firewood and trash are among the largest sources of particles in many parts of the country. If you must use a fireplace or stove for heat, convert your woodstoves to natural gas, which has far fewer polluting emissions. Compost and recycle as much as possible and dispose of other waste properly; don’t burn it. Support efforts in your community to ban outdoor burning of construction and yard wastes. Avoid the use of outdoor hydronic heaters, also called outdoor wood boilers, which are often much more polluting than woodstoves.
• Make sure your local school system requires clean school buses, which includes replacing or retrofitting old school buses with filters and other equipment to reduce emissions. Make sure your local schools don’t idle their buses, a step that can immediately reduce the emissions.
• Get involved. Participate in your community’s review of its air pollution plans and support state and local efforts to clean up air pollution.
• Use less electricity. Turn out the lights and use energy-efficient appliances. Generating electricity is one of the biggest sources of pollution, particularly in the eastern United States.
• Send a message to decision makers. Send an email or fax to urge Congress to oppose measures that weaken the Clean Air Act.

Log on at www.LungUSA.org to see how easy that can be.

source: http://www.stateoftheair.org/2009/key-findings/executive-summary.html

Useful Air Quality Links

Iowa

• Iowa Weather Alerts including Air Quality Alerts from the National Weather Service
• Iowa Air Quality Forecast
• Pollution Rankings in Linn County Iowa
• Iowa Department of Natural Resouces

EPA SuperFund Cleanup Sites List – Locations in Iowa

The 25 Most Ozone-Polluted Regions from 2005 American Lung Association

1. Los Angeles-Long Beach-
   Riverside, CA
2. Bakersfield, CA
3. Fresno-Madera, CA
4. Visalia-Porterville, CA
5. Merced, CA
6. Houston-Baytown-Huntsville, TX
7. Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-
   Truckee, CA-NV
8. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
9. New York-Newark-Bridgeport,
   NY-NJ-CT-PA
10. Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland,
    PA-NJ-DE-MD
11. Washington-Baltimore-Northern
    Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV
12. Charlotte-Gastonia-Salisbury, NC-SC
13. Hanford-Corcoran, CA
14. Cleveland-Akron-Elyria, OH
15. Knoxville-Sevierville-La Follette, TN
16. Modesto, CA
17. Pittsburgh-New Castle, PA
18. Youngstown-Warren-East
    Liverpool, OH-PA
19. Columbus-Marion-Chillicothe, OH
20. Detroit-Warren-Flint, MI
21. Buffalo-Niagara-Cattaraugus, NY
22. Sheboygan, WI
23. Chicago-Naperville-Michigan
    City, IL-IN-WI
24. El Centro, CA
25. Lancaster, PA

source: http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/05/09/07/the-25-most-polluted-regions-in-the-united-states.htm

QI colors

EPA has assigned a specific color to each AQI category to make it easier for people to understand quickly whether air pollution is reaching unhealthy levels in their communities. For example, the color orange means that conditions are “unhealthy for sensitive groups,” while red means that conditions may be “unhealthy for everyone,” and so on.

Understanding the AQI

The purpose of the AQI is to help you understand what local air quality means to your health. To make it easier to understand, the AQI is divided into six categories:

Each category corresponds to a different level of health concern. The six levels of health concern and what they mean are:

• “Good” AQI is 0 – 50. Air quality is considered satisfactory, and air pollution poses little or no risk.
• “Moderate” AQI is 51 – 100. Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people. For example, people who are unusually sensitive to ozone may experience respiratory symptoms.
• “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” AQI is 101 – 150. Although general public is not likely to be affected at this AQI range, people with lung disease, older adults and children are at a greater risk from exposure to ozone, whereas persons with heart and lung disease, older adults and children are at greater risk from the presence of particles in the air. .
• “Unhealthy” AQI is 151 – 200. Everyone may begin to experience some adverse health effects, and members of the sensitive groups may experience more serious effects. .
• “Very Unhealthy” AQI is 201 – 300. This would trigger a health alert signifying that everyone may experience more serious health effects.

source: http://www.airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=aqibasics.aqi#sens

“Hazardous” AQI greater than 300. This would trigger a health warnings of emergency conditions. The entire population is more likely to be affected.