Dr. Mercola May 15 2002 911 views
More than half of all Americans breathe polluted air that can damage their health because the government doesn't fully enforce clean air laws.
Standards are in place to cut back pollution, but since they are not being enforced, nearly 400 counties in the United States have smog levels above the legal limits.
It is clearly time to get serious about enforcing all of the provisions of the Clean Air Act so that we place Americans' health above business and political interests.
Industry is fighting to roll back important provisions of the Clean Air Act, and ozone standards set in 1997 are still not being enforced. More protective ozone standards effectively have been on hold due to challenges by industry, which have kept states relying on weaker standards they have used since 1979.
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Ozone is a highly reactive form of oxygen that results primarily from the action of sunlight on hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides emitted in fuel combustion. Ozone levels typically rise between May and October when higher temperatures and increased amounts of sunlight combine with stagnant atmospheric conditions that are associated with smog episodes.
A coalition of business groups, led by the American Trucking Association, filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the Environmental Protection Agency's 1997 pollution standards saying they were arbitrary and had no scientific basis.
But last month, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected the argument, saying the EPA "must err on the side of caution" and set pollution standards at "whatever level it deems necessary and sufficient to protect the public health."
Other legal issues also are still unresolved concerning the pollution standards -- which the EPA estimates would prevent 15,000 premature deaths, 350,000 cases of asthma and 1 million cases of decreased lung function in children.
According to the association's report, the 10 most polluted areas were Los Angeles, Riverside and Orange County in southern California; Bakersfield, Fresno, Visalia, Tulare and Porterville, California; Houston, Galveston and Brazoria, Texas; Atlanta; Merced, California; Knoxville, Tennessee; Charlotte, North Carolina, and neighboring Rockville, South Carolina, and Sacramento, California.
The cleanest big cities included Bellingham, Washington; Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Lincoln, Nebraska.
American Lung Association's "State of the Air 2002" Report May 3, 2002
Many of us don't have the luxury of easily changing our location. However, clean air should be a factor when relocating in the future. You can get an idea of where your community ranks by looking at some data compiled last year by the American Lung Association.
I was seriously disappointed to find that I live at best in a below average to failing area of the country with respect to air quality. It is my plan to remedy this by moving to Colorado Springs which, as the above report indicates, is one of the cleanest big cities in the US. I will maintain an office in my current location to serve the patients there.
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