Data Journalism Project

Rochester Air, an Invisible Threat

Smog or polluted ozone, is infamous in cities like Beijing or New Delhi where the sheer density of pollutants makes the air so thick that you can actually choke on it. And according to the American Lung Association many cities in the U.S are on a path to being just as bad, including Rochester.

Every year the American Lung Association releases an annual “State of the Air” report which uses data collected by the EPA to determine whether the air we breathe is detrimental to our own health. Grades are given to cities, counties, and states across the nation to rate their respective amount of air pollution. In the most recent report, Monroe County, including the city of Rochester, received an F rating for ground level ozone pollution.

The grade may sound bad but without an explanation, is completely arbitrary. To put it into perspective it means that the amount of people at risk for chronic respiratory diseases has increased five times the amount from last year leading to 4 out of 10 citizens in Monroe County likely to be medically affected by ground level ozone.

State Ozone Quality (Bigger dot means poorer ozone quality)

This year The Huffington Post also looked over the document to find out that over 40% of Americans live with unhealthy levels of either ozone or particle pollution. And as the EPA explains it, areas with high amounts of ozone pollution, like Rochester, can cause a variety of health problems and lists them as such:

• Cause shortness of breath, and pain when taking a deep breath.
• Cause coughing and sore or scratchy throat.
• Inflame and damage the airways.
• Aggravate lung diseases such as asthma, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis.
• Increase the frequency of asthma attacks.
• Make the lungs more susceptible to infection.
• Continue to damage the lungs even when the symptoms have disappeared.
• Cause chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
• Difficult to breathe deeply and vigorously.

Now these problems are not fatal by any means, but without proper care and attention they can significantly reduce a person’s quality of life and even shorten it. Dr. Daniel Croft, a Pulmonary critical care expert from the University of Rochester, states “Asthma is a good disease to focus on as ozone is a mechanism for oxidative stress causing inflammation. Inflammation is reversible short term but can cause scarring in the small airways, so if you have symptoms get checked.”

Graph Showing the Degradation of Ozone Quality (Nation- Red, NY-Blue)

With all this in mind the question that begs to be asked is how did it get this bad? Well first of all this isn’t the first-time Monroe County has received an F rating for ozone, this last happened in 2011 but it seemed to have improved until now, with a B grade being received just last year. However, according to Elizabeth Knight, a recent RIT grad who studied Environmental Sustainability Health and Safety, now leads the Environmental Sustainability initiative at General Motors, “Bad Ozone is formed near the ground when pollution is emitted by things like cars, industrial boilers, or power plants and is exposed to sunlight causing a chemical reaction. In order to slow the process down we should watch our ecological footprint as annoying as it sounds it is really important”

The EPA also provides a list of things we can do to reduce the amount of pollution we contribute:

• Choose a cleaner commute - share a ride to work or use public transportation.
• Combine errands and reduce trips. Walk to errands when possible.
• Avoid excessive idling of your automobile.
• Refuel your car in the evening when its cooler.
• Conserve electricity and set air conditioners no lower than 78 degrees.
• Defer lawn and gardening chores that use gasoline-powered equipment until evening.

The “State of the Air” is a report that is published every year by a national organization yet it barely gets any traction aside from a few news articles reminding us that it exists. However, if you want to stay informed, Frank Reegan is a citizen an active advocator for a clean environment at Monroe County and is the founder of RochesterEnviroment.com, a site updated daily to inform Monroe County citizens the status of the environment as well as any news and new regulations that might affect it. When asked about the lack of attention Reegan said “It doesn’t get any local coverage. Environmental news like this is similar to riding a plane and feeling a sudden drop in altitude. Look around and no one is interested, so it must be OK. So, you relax and take a deep breath, but that’s part of the problem. Taking a breath might be difficult on a bad ozone day.”

https://aqsdr1.epa.gov/aqsweb/aqstmp/airdata/download_files.html#Annual