Take air-quality advisories seriously, officials warn

By ASHLEY LUTHERN

Only three air-quality advisory days have been issued for the Youngstown-Warren region this year.

YOUNGSTOWN — It can alert you to conditions that make you cough, wheeze or sneeze, but some area residents don’t think that air-quality reports really affect their life.

“I hear the reports and then the pollen count, but I care more about the pollen count because both of my kids have allergies,” said Jill Johngrass, 31, of Campbell.

Air-quality control reports, or forecasts, display how much pollution is in the air of a region and if the pollution is at an unhealthy level.

“If you go outside and you have allergies, you tell how your body’s reacting,” said Tricia Patterson, 27, of East Palestine, who added that her husband always mows the lawn in the evening, rather than the afternoon because of his allergies.

But the pollution in the air can have an impact on one’s health, and air-quality reports are important, said Dr. Asif Khan at the Asthma and Allergy Center on Belmont Avenue.

“Those particles are real and heavy,” he said. “Once you inhale them, they start a reaction in your body’s lungs that’s like taking a balloon and pinching it so the air can’t go in and out anymore.”

The reports can educate the public to help them control their asthma and allergies by giving them information about whether they should take their medicine or stay indoors for most of the day, Dr. Khan said.

Monitoring air pollution is nothing new, however.

Since the early 1970s, after the federal Clean Air Act was passed, Youngstown has had air-quality reports.

“Most of the machines were put in place after the Clean Air Act, and those were fairly rudimentary,” said Joe Matasy, an air pollution field technician with the Mahoning-Trumbull Air Pollution Control Agency.

The machines are more sophisticated today. They pick up on smaller particles of pollution in the air because the medical community has determined that the fine particles that are inhaled deeply into the lungs are of greater concern, Matasy said.

The monitors give readings for the levels of particle and ozone pollution.

Ozone is created when pollutants such as car exhaust, emissions from industrial plants or petroleum-based products mix with sunlight and heat. It’s known as low-level, or bad, ozone. In Ohio, the prime season for ozone creation is in the sunny summer months, which is also when air-quality reports are more publicized.

“When an air advisory is issued, it will give ideas for people to reduce the amount of ozone by using public transportation or waiting until after 6 p.m. to fill up their car or run a gas grill,” said Heidi Griesmer, spokeswoman for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

Particle pollution also is referred to as soot, which are tiny solid particles SEmD 40 times smaller than a grain of salt — that are released by cars, power plants and residential fireplaces. Unlike ozone, particle pollution does not need sunlight or heat to form and can occur in the winter.

Youngstown used to be out of compliance with EPA air-quality standards, but the city is now meeting the standard and last year was officially redesignated as compliant, Griesmer said.

Eastgate Regional Council of Governments from Mahoning and Trumbull counties provides e-mail alerts for residents to get daily or advisories, said Lisa Pompeo, public information administrator for Eastgate. There have been only three advisories issued for the Youngstown-Warren region this year, meaning that on those days the level of air pollution was unhealthy for sensitive groups, like children or the elderly.

“The important thing is that within the two counties, our air quality is getting better,” Pompeo said.