Bad air alert in effect again today

New England state air quality forecasters are predicting air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups, due to ground-level ozone, in much of southern New England for Saturday.

“We are expecting continued unhealthy air quality into Saturday,” said Curt Spalding, Administrator of EPA’s New England office. “EPA and the medical community suggest that people limit their strenuous outdoor activity during unhealthy air quality days.”

Exposure to elevated ozone levels can cause breathing problems, aggravate asthma and other preexisting lung diseases, and make people more susceptible to respiratory infection. When ozone levels are elevated, people should refrain from strenuous outdoor activity, especially sensitive populations such as children and adults with respiratory problems.

Ground-level ozone forms when volatile organic compounds and oxides of nitrogen (ozone precursors) interact in the presence of

strong sunshine. Cars, trucks and buses give off the majority of the pollution create ozone. Gasoline stations, print shops, household products like paints and some cleaners, as well as lawn and garden equipment also add to the ozone problem.

When ozone is forecast to be unhealthy for sensitive groups, EPA asks the public to take action. The public can help reduce ozone by:

• use public transportation or walk whenever possible;

• combine errands and car-pool to reduce driving time and mileage;

• use less electricity by turning air conditioning to a higher temperature setting, and turning off lights, TVs and computers when they are not being used; and

• avoid using small gasoline-powered engines, such as lawn mowers, string trimmers, chain saws, powerwashers, air compressors and leaf blowers on unhealthy air days.

EPA and the New England states provide ozone data and air quality forecasts at https://www3.epa.gov/regio n1/ airquality/ forecast. html

This website can also be used to sign up to receive free air quality alerts by email when poor air quality is predicted for a particular area.