Ozone Standards Delayed

The new ozone standards are intended to protect public health, and secondarily to protect property and the environment.

As a result of the delay, Florida will have a serious and permanent gap in air monitoring records. A major concern, not only for being able to tell asthmatics and heart patients they shouldn't venture outside on a given high ozone level day but to know whether action should be taken to improve our air, such as by reducing emissions of ozone-causing chemicals like nitrogen dioxide.

EPA’s recent decision to delay adopting the new standards is a mistake, the region barely meets the current EPA ozone standard.

Ozone is a severe irritant. Ozone damages lung tissue, aggravates respiratory disease and makes us more susceptible to respiratory infections. It is especially dangerous to older adults, children, and persons with respiratory illnesses.

Ozone has a long-range transport ability. The importance of ozone and oxidants is due to a wide range of symptoms: they affect crop quality; they can combine with other pollutants to form a more highly toxic mixture; and they can reduce crop yield without any visible indication of damage.

Because of its devastating effect on agriculture, the impact of ozone on vegetation has been investigated more than any other pollutant. Acute symptoms from exposure to elevated levels of ozone include tissue collapse, lesions, necrosis and chlorosis, and loss of color in leaves.

Since virtually all ozone is absorbed when inspired, the respiratory dose rate can be significant under an increase in ozone levels. Virtually all the ozone reacts in the layers of cells and secretions lining the respiratory tract.

At every level of air pollution, someone is adversely affected. A direct impact associated with residential growth is the increase in pollution and a decrease in the region’s air quality. Expanding energy needs and an increase in vehicle emissions appear to be creating serious, adverse effects on the health of our populace.

There can be no doubt that increasing the levels of ozone in Florida will have an adverse impact on human health, agriculture, and the economy. EPA can no longer ignore the increasing threat of elevated levels of ozone and the desire of the overwhelming majority of people in Florida to breathe clean air.

EPA’s delay in adopting new ozone standards can only be viewed as an abdication of their duties, and it appears to be done solely for political purposes.

Glenn Compton is the Chairman of ManaSota 88, a non-profit organization that has spent over 30 years fighting to protect the environment of Manatee and Sarasota counties.