Down in Columbus our Ohio Senate is considering, today, a bill (SB265) that would prevent our state from enacting stronger air pollution health standards than are required by the federal government. Passage of this bill would not be good for our health. Consider the fact that a recent study reported in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives found that the levels of ground level ozone presently considered safe by the EPA are in fact too high. The authors of the study found that breathing ozone at these currently permissable levels can increase the risk of premature death.
Ohio air is some of the dirtiest in the US. In April '04 Cuyahoga, along with the seven other counties that make up Northeast Ohio, was designated a moderate nonattainment area under EPA's 8-hr. ozone standard. Such areas were supposed to achieve national air quality standards for 8-hour ozone no later than June 2010. Now we have state legislators trying to ensure that we won't be able to take the steps necessary to protect our health when the federal government doesn't do an adequate job.
To learn what your area's air quality is today you can visit this site -
http://www.airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.currentconditions&RegionID... [1]
Links:
[1] http://www.airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.currentconditions&RegionID=4