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Alerts | Exceedences | Links
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 fax and/or email. Air Quality Health Alerts are now frequently 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.

2008 Air Quality Health Alerts
Date	Warning Level	High 8-hour reading, Regulatory Site	High 8-hour reading, Non-regulatory Site
5/18/08	Orange	54 Calaveras Lake C59	55 City of Garden Ridge C505
8/14/08	Orange	65 San Antonio Northwest C23	62 Fair Oaks Ranch C502*
8/26/08	Orange	47 Camp Bullis C58	47 Fair Oaks Ranch C502*
8/31/08	Orange	64 San Antonio Northwest C23	66 Bulverde Elementary C503*
9/6/08	Orange	78 San Antonio Northwest C23	74 Fair Oaks Ranch C502*
9/20/08	Orange	66 CPS Pecan Valley C678	68 Elm Creek Elementary C501*
9/26/08	Orange	81 San Antonio Northwest C23	84 Elm Creek Elementary C501*
9/27/08	Orange	82 San Antonio Northwest C23	82 Elm Creek Elementary C501*
9/28/08	Orange	79 CPS Pecan Valley C678	84 Elm Creek Elementary C501*
9/29/08	Orange	76 CPS Pecan Valley C678	78 New Braunfels Airport C504

Air Quality Exceedences
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 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)

2008 Four Highest Eight-Hour Ozone Concentrations as of 10/27/08
Monitoring Site	Highest		2^nd Highest		3^rd Highest		4^th Highest
Monitoring Site	Date	Value	Date	Value	Date	Value	Date	Value
San Antonio Northwest C23	9/27/2008	82	10/01/2008	81	09/26/2008	81	09/28/2008	78
Camp Bullis C58	10/02/2008	78	10/1/2008	78	05/08/2008	77	06/23/2008	74
CPS Pecan Valley C678	09/30/2008	79	09/28/2008	79	09/29/2008	76	09/27/2008	75
Calaveras Lake C59	09/30/2008	79	09/29/2008	75	09/28/2008	74	09/26/2008	73
Elm Creek Elementary C501*	09/30/2008	89	09/28/2008	84	09/26/2008	84	09/27/2008	82
Fair Oaks Ranch C502*	10/02/2008	84	05/08/2008	78	09/27/2008	76	06/23/2008	75
Heritage Middle School C622	09/30/2008	74	09/28/2008	73	09/29/2008	72	09/26/2008	72
Bulverde Elementary C503*	10/02/2008	85	09/27/2008	76	09/30/2008	74	09/28/2008	74
City of Garden Ridge C505*	10/19/2008	75	09/26/2008	74	04/19/2008	71	05/08/2008	70
New Braunfels Airport C504*	09/30/2008	89	10/01/2008	80	09/27/2008	79	09/29/2008	78
Seguin Outdoor Learning Center C506*	09/30/2008	72	04/19/2008	68	09/26/2008	66	04/15/2008	66

Source: Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
* - Non-regulatory Site

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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