by Ivan Chan and Walter Tsou, M.D.
Summer's here, and this means more smog and health problems.
With the arrival of summer, we will once again be advised to limit our
outdoor activity on the hottest days due to high levels of smog
throughout many parts of the state. One-third of this smog comes from
motor vehicles, which emit smog-forming exhaust such as nitrogen oxides
that, in the presence of heat and light, form smog in our air.
Over
two-thirds of Pennsylvanians live in counties that have had smog levels
exceeding federal smog standards. In its 2006 State of the Air report,
the American Lung Association gave 29 of the 31 counties it studied
throughout the state an ''F'' for smog pollution, as they registered
numerous ''code orange'' and ''code red'' days for unhealthy air
quality due to smog.
A recent PennEnvironment report
determined that smog triggers 300,000 asthma attacks annually in the
state and leads to 7,000 hospital admissions for respiratory illness.
The report also determined that air pollution causes roughly 900,000
missed school days due to illness.
Smog can affect anyone, but particularly children, the elderly and
people with lung disease. According to Dr. Norman Edelman of the
American Lung Association, ''It's like a sunburn inside your lungs.''
Smog can inflame and damage the lining of the lungs, leading to
swelling and restricted airways. This pollution also makes life
especially difficult for those with existing lung disease such as
asthma, chronic bronchitis or emphysema, further restricting the
ability of these individuals to perform normal activities and in some
cases resulting in increased summertime emergency room visits and even
death.
Moreover, we know that injuries caused by air pollution early in life
can have permanent effects, reducing lung capacity and potentially
causing health problems such as asthma. Air pollution also contributes
to the development of chronic bronchitis in the elderly.
An important step in attacking the smog problem is for our state to
adopt the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's
proposed Clean Vehicles Program. The Clean Vehicles Program would bring
cleaner cars and trucks to Pennsylvania, and in doing so would cut
annual smog-forming pollution levels from cars and light trucks by 10
percent by 2025. The program would also cut annual global warming
pollution levels from cars and light trucks by almost 25 percent.
And if reducing smog pollution and global warming pollution are not
enough reason for Pennsylvania to move forward, 10 other states —
including New York and New Jersey — have already adopted or are
finalizing standards similar to the Clean Vehicles Program. These 10
states comprise over one-third of America's auto market. Yet some
members of the Pennsylvania Legislature are actually opposing this
program.
Given the public health threat posed by smog pollution to
Pennsylvanians, we need our elected officials to support the adoption
of the Clean Vehicles Program. This common sense program will help
bring cleaner cars—and cleaner air—to Pennsylvania, allowing us all to
breathe a little easier.
Ivan
Chan is an advocate with PennEnvironment, with offices in Philadelphia.
Walter Tsou, M.D., is immediate past president of the American Public
Health Association.
