Air Quality Awareness Week, Wednesday: Keeping Your Heart and Lungs Safe

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
500 AM EDT WED MAY 2 2007

... THIS IS AIR QUALITY AWARENESS WEEK

THIS WEEK MARKS THE BEGINNING OF THE OZONE SEASON FOR MANY AREAS IN THE UNITED STATES.

TODAY WE HIGHLIGHTTHE HEALTH IMPACTS OF POOR AIR QUALITY.

YOU ARE EXPOSED TO AIRBORNE CONTAMINATION EVERY TIME YOU BREATHE POLLUTED AIR. BUT WHEN YOU EXERCISE... WORK IN THE YARD OR DO OTHER STRENUOUS ACTIVITIES THAT MAKE YOU BREATHE HARDER AND FASTER... YOU INHALE EVEN MORE POLLUTED AIR INTO YOUR LUNGS.

EXPOSURE TO HIGH LEVELS OF OZONE AND PARTICLE POLLUTION IS LINKED WITH A NUMBER OF SIGNIFICANT HEALTH PROBLEMS. CHILDREN...PEOPLE WITH LUNG DISEASE...OLDER ADULTS AND PEOPLE WITH HEART DISEASE TEND TO BE MORE VULNERABLE. WHEN POLLUTION REACHES HIGH ENOUGH LEVELS THE AIR CAN BE UNHEALTHY FOR EVERYONE...ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE ACTIVE OUTDOORS. YOU CAN HELP PROTECT YOURSELF SIMPLY BY CHANGING THE TIME OR INTENSITY OF YOUR ACTIVITIES.

USE THE AIR QUALITY INDEX AND DAILY AIR QUALITY FORECASTS TO HELP YOU DETERMINE WHEN YOU NEED TO MAKE CHANGES. THE AQI IS A COLOR CODED SCALE THAT TELLS YOU WHO NEEDS TO TAKE STEPS TO REDUCE EXPOSURE TO OZONE OR PARTICLE POLLUTION. LOCAL AIR QUALITY FORECASTS ARE AVAILABLE AT WWW.AIRNOW.GOV.

USE AIR QUALITY FORECAST GUIDANCE AT WWW.WEATHER.GOV/AQ TO FIND MAP PROJECTIONS OF WHEN AND WHERE THE AIR YOU BREATHE IS EXPECTED TO HAVE HIGH AMOUNTS OF POLLUTANTS.

TOMORROW WE WILL LEARN ABOUT TOOLS TO HELP YOU GET AIR QUALITY INFORMATION.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON AIR QUALITY AWARENESS WEEK...VISIT US ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB AT HTTP://WWW.AIRQUALITY.NOAA.GOV.

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