U.S. Study Finds There Is No Safe Level for Ozone

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File this but keep handy for the next time someone says ozone - or

any of its other names - is good for you.

Cross Post From: iequality

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Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2006 22:01:10 -0500

From: " U.S. Dept of State List Manager " <Listmgr@...>

Subject: Text: U.S. Study Finds There Is No Safe Level for Ozone

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Text: U.S. Study Finds There Is No Safe Level for Ozone

(High ozone levels a growing concern for rapidly developing nations)

(860)

A nationwide study sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows

that even at very low levels, ozone -- the main ingredient in smog --

increases the risk of premature death.

According to a February 16 Yale University press release, if a safe

level for ozone exists, it is only at very low or natural levels and

far below levels deemed acceptable by current U.S. and international

regulations.

An increase of 10 parts ozone per billion parts air (10 ppb) in the

average of the two previous days' ozone levels is associated with a

0.30 percent increase in mortality, the study found.

Ozone is a relatively unstable molecule made up of three oxygen

atoms. Depending on where ozone is in the atmosphere, it can protect

or harm life on Earth. In the stratosphere, between 10 and 40

kilometers above the Earth, ozone acts as a shield to protect Earth's

surface from the sun's harmful ultraviolet radiation.

Closer to Earth in the troposphere, the layer of the atmosphere from

the surface to about 10 kilometers up, ozone is a harmful pollutant

that causes damage to lung tissue and plants.

The study builds on research published in November 2004 in the

Journal of the American Medical Association – the first national

study of ozone and mortality.

" Our findings show that even if all 98 counties in our study met the

current ozone standard every day, there would still be a significant

link between ozone and premature mortality, " said Bell, lead

investigator on the study and assistant professor of environmental

health at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies in

Connecticut.

Further reductions in ozone pollution would benefit public health,

she added, even in areas that meet regulatory requirements.

" Elevated concentrations of ozone are also a growing concern for

rapidly developing nations with rising levels of ozone from expanding

transportation networks, " said Francesca Dominici, co-author of the

study and associate professor of biostatistics at s Hopkins

University in land.

Researchers found that even for days that now meet the EPA limit for

an acceptable level of ozone -- 80 ppb for an eight-hour period --

there was still an increased risk of death from the pollutant.

The EPA now is considering whether more stringent standards for ozone

are needed.

The study (http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2006/8816/abstract.html),

published in Environmental Health Perspectives, is available on the

U.S. National Institutes of Health Web site.

Text of the Yale University press release follows:

(begin text)

Yale University

[New Haven, Connecticut]

Press release, February 16, 2006

Study finds no safe level for ozone

Even at very low levels, ozone--the principal ingredient in

smog--increases the risk of premature death, according to a

nationwide study to be published in the April edition of the journal

Environmental Health Perspectives.

The study, sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency and the

Centers for Disease Control, found that if a safe level for ozone

exists, it is only at very low or natural levels and far below

current U.S. and international regulations. A 10 part-per-billion

increase in the average of the two previous days' ozone levels is

associated with a 0.30 percent increase in mortality.

The current study builds on research published in November 2004 in

the Journal of the American Medical Association, which was the

first national study of ozone and mortality.

" This study investigates whether there is a threshold level below

which ozone does not affect mortality. Our findings show that even

if all 98 counties in our study met the current ozone standard every

day, there would still be a significant link between ozone and

premature mortality, " said Bell, lead investigator on the

study and assistant professor of environmental health at the Yale

School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. " This indicates that

further reductions in ozone pollution would benefit public health,

even in areas that meet regulatory requirements. "

Researchers found that even for days that currently meet the EPA

limit for an acceptable level of ozone--80 parts per billion for an

eight-hour period--there was still an increased risk of death from

the pollutant.

An effort is now under way by the EPA to consider whether more

stringent standards for ozone are needed. The agency is mandated to

set regulations for ozone under the Clean Air Act. Ozone, a gas that

occurs naturally in the upper atmosphere, is created in the lower

atmosphere when vehicle and industrial emissions react with sunlight.

Levels typically rise when sunlight and heat are highest in the

summer.

" Over 100 million people in the United States live in areas that

exceed the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone.

Elevated concentrations of ozone are also a growing concern for

rapidly developing nations with rising levels of ozone from expanding

transportation networks, " said Francesca Dominici, co-author of the

study and associate professor of biostatistics at s Hopkins.

The study is online at

http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2006/8816/abstract.html

Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies

http://www.yale.edu/forestry/

(end text)

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