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Air Quality Health Alerts The Air Quality Health Alert notification program is moving with the times. When AACOG receives a forecast of high pollution levels, it issues an Air Quality Health Alert to all local media entities and over 300 local organizations via email. Air Quality Health Alerts are usually announced with the weather during the morning and evening television network news, on most local radio stations, and in the San Antonio Express-News and the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung. You can also find the Air Quality Index on the weather page of the Express-News.
Air Quality Exceedances Ozone levels are considered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to be unhealthful and exceed the National Ambient Air Quality Standard when they are measured above 75 parts per billion (ppb). The standard is based on averaging air quality measurements over eight-hour blocks of time. EPA uses the average of the annual fourth highest eight-hour daily maximum concentrations from three years of air quality monitoring data to determine a violation of the ozone standard. High concentrations of ozone can cause shortness of breath, coughing, wheezing, headaches, nausea, eye and throat irritation, and lung damage. People who suffer from lung diseases like bronchitis, pneumonia, emphysema, asthma, and colds have even more trouble breathing when the air is polluted. These effects can be worse in anyone who spends significant periods of time exercising or working outdoors. (Source: Texas Commission on Environmental Quality) * - The EPA intends to establish a new standard threshold somewhere between 60 and 70 ppb during August 2010. Air Quality Links
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Natural Resources Outreach
Brenda Williams Projects Manager Alamo Area Council of Governments 8700 Tesoro Drive, Suite 700 San Antonio, TX 78217 (210) 362-5200 |
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