Posted by
Deborah Shprentz
| July 22, 2009
For the first time in 35 years, the EPA has proosed setting a new one-hour standard and establishing a roadside monitoring network for nitrogen dioxide, a widespread, noxious air pollutant.
Posted by
Deborah Shprentz
| March 11, 2009
March 11, 2009. Long-term exposure to ozone smog increases the risk of death from respiratory causes, according to a study published in today’s New England Journal of Medicine.
Posted by
Deborah Shprentz
| February 26, 2009
This week a coalition of health and environmental organizations released an agenda the Obama Administration and Congress should pursue to protect the air we breathe.
Posted by
Deborah Shprentz
| January 21, 2009
A stunning new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine finds that average life expectancy in U.S. cities has increased nearly three years over recent decades, and approximately five months of that increase, or 15 percent, came because of reduced fine particle air pollution.
Posted by
Deborah Shprentz
| December 10, 2008
There is a very interesting article in today's Philadelphia Inquirer.
Posted by
Deborah Shprentz
| November 7, 2008
The Obama Administration has an opportunity to restore scientific integrity to the process for setting the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).
Posted by
Deborah Shprentz
| October 21, 2008
Long-term exposure to particulate matter elevates the risk of mortality in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) according to a new study of Medicare patients in 34 U.S. cities.
Posted by
Deborah Shprentz
| October 19, 2008
An investigation by the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) an arm of the Congress, as found that EPA has largely disregarded key recommendations from its Children’s Advisory Committee, particularly with respect to proposed revisions to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAAQS).
Posted by
Deborah Shprentz
| August 6, 2008
In recent weeks, much attention has been focused on the air quality in Beijing, China and its potential impact on athletes and even spectators.
Posted by
Deborah Shprentz
| August 1, 2008
This summer we are seeing increased ozone alert days across the nation due in part to a change in the EPA air quality standard for ozone.
Posted by
Deborah Shprentz
| July 7, 2008
If you are heading to the beach this holiday weekend, you may be interested in a novel program instituted in Galveston, Texas.
Posted by
Frank O'Donnell
| June 18, 2008
The summer hasn't officially begun yet, but we are already seeing ozone levels worse than the EPA's new standard.
Posted by
Deborah Shprentz
| June 9, 2008
Cessation of smoking has a beneficial effect on lung function, but the effect of reductions in air pollution on lung function has not been studied in adults until recently. It is normal for lung function to decline with age. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine is the first to explore whether a decline in air pollution over time can attenuate this decline.
Posted by
Ron White
| June 3, 2008
"'In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."
Benjamin Franklin, 1789
Over the past several years, scientists and policy makers have increasingly debated the issue of uncertainty in the scientific base of information that underlies public health policy decisions. What do we mean by “uncertainty”? One way to think of scientific uncertainty is the lack of precise knowledge of the “scientific truth.” Despite our best efforts, we can only reduce but never completely eliminate uncertainty through obtaining more information. In fact, you can think of the scientific method itself as an approach to obtaining more information that (hopefully) reduces uncertainty and improves our understanding of the “scientific truth”.
Posted by
Deborah Shprentz
| May 23, 2008
I often get inquiries from citizen groups that are looking for presentations on the health effects of air pollution.
Posted by
Frank O'Donnell
| May 18, 2008
The ancient Greek poet and scholar Callimachus once was heard to quip "A big book is a big nuisance." The American Lung Association's recent "State of the Air" report is indeed big -- but it is anything but a nuisance
Posted by
Deborah Shprentz
| May 15, 2008
Last week I attended a Senate oversight hearing on the undermining of science at the Environmental Protection Agency. A subcommittee of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee was investigating the Agency’s failure to follow the recommendations of its own Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee when revising the air quality standards for soot and smog.
Posted by
Deborah Shprentz
| May 13, 2008
I run a project for the American Lung Association tracking the EPA review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. These standards define what constitutes “clean air” in America.
Posted by
Janice Nolen
| May 6, 2008
Thanks for writing in to our State of the Air website. As has happened every year, we’ve managed to make some people very unhappy about how we characterized the air in their community (we hear you, Pittsburgh!) and left others wondering about our data—or lack of data—in their community. I’ll try to answer some of the early ones and respond to the Pittsburgh questions tomorrow.
Posted by
Janice Nolen
| May 2, 2008
First, we would like to thank you for visiting the site. State of the Air has had great coverage around the nation. We’ve had a wonderful opportunity to talk about the critical impact air quality has on lung health and to let people know when and how they can protect themselves. This would not have been possible without the hard work of field staff and volunteers all across the nation. Even more directly, this required the hard, dedicated work of a team of our national headquarters colleagues in New York City and here in DC.
