On June 2 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a new one-hour standard for sulfur dioxide (SO2), one of six national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) set by EPA.

EPA considered levels between 50 and 100 ppb for the new, one-hour standard and decided to set the standard at 75 ppb. While not as protective as 50 ppb, the new short-term standard is good news for children and people of all ages living with asthma. Because even a 10-15 minute exposure to high concentrations of SO2 can trigger a severe asthma attack, this change is good news for millions of asthma sufferers across the nation—including the roughly quarter of a million children living with asthma in Georgia.

Based on recent monitoring data (2006-2008), coastal Chatham County may fail the new one-hour standard. Nonattainment status could help Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division (EPD) pressure coastal paper processing facilities, one of the largest sources of SO2, to use best available control technology.

Large cargo ships entering the Savannah Port are another significant source of SO2 pollution because these vessels burn “bunker fuel” very high in sulfur content. Nonattainment status also may encourage the Georgia Ports Authority to follow the lead of other ports such as Long Beach and provide incentives for ships to begin using cleaner fuel ahead of new maritime fuel rules do not begin to take effect until 2015. Read more.

The Savannah Morning News interviewed Mothers & Others for Clean Air’s director about the new standard and opportunities to improve air quality in Savannah.

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In mid-June M&O, our diesel partners at Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE), and Michelle Uchiyama, Health Committee chair for Atlanta Neighborhood Planning unit (NPU)-H traveled to the nation’s capitol for a national clean diesel strategic planning meeting organized by the Clean Air Task Force. A group of more than 30 diesel emissions reduction activists from 17 states were briefed on the latest technologies and strategies for reducing harmful diesel particulate matter (soot). In addition, this national team met with Senate Environment and Public Works Committee members and House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee members, including Georgia Congressman Hank Johnson, to advocate federal funding to clean up dirty diesel engines and promote clean construction equipment provisions in the federal transportation bill.

Our Georgia team also met with legislative aides in the offices of Georgia Congressmen Westmoreland, Johnson, Price, Scott and Lewis to discuss federal initiatives needed to reduce diesel pollution in Georgia. We highlighted metro Atlanta’s high asthma rates, the impact of heavy diesel truck traffic on many Georgia communities, and successful Georgia diesel retrofit projects, including school buses and city/county fleets, that would not have been possible without federal support.

Stay tuned! Additional funding for school bus retrofits (pollution control devices) will be announced in September. Would you like to see your city or county clean up those dirty waste haulers or backhoes? Contact M&O about a clean diesel funding workshop in Macon on September 9 for municipal fleet managers -- help us get your community’s diesel engines cleaned up!

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Reducing toxic diesel particulate matter in Georgia is a top priority of Mothers & Others for Clean Air because of the serious health consequences associated with exposure to diesel exhaust. The expansion of the Panama Canal is expected to result in a dramatic increase in container ships using East Coast ports and, as a result, significantly increase freight movement in Georgia.

While recent EPA rules require new diesel engines to come equipped with particulate filters and other pollution control devices, millions of “legacy” engines, unaffected by new rules, remain in operation. As a result, plans to expand freight movement in Georgia must be matched by aggressive efforts to reduce emissions from older diesel engines in order to avoid additional diesel pollution.

Communities close to busy freight corridors, rail yards, intermodal sites and ports suffer a disproportionate amount of exposure to harmful diesel exhaust. Freight planning should seek both to reduce overall diesel emissions and also to reduce emissions and exposure in communities already experiencing higher than average concentrations of diesel fumes.

Last winter, Mothers & Others for Clean Air approached the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) freight planning team about integrating diesel emissions control efforts into the new freight mobility plan that was in process. M&O worked with members of the freight committee of the Southeast Diesel Collaborative (coordinated by EPA Region 4) to develop recommendations for ARC to incorporate into its freight plan. The final Atlanta Strategic Truck Route Master Plan (ASTRoMaP), released in April, includes the recommendations submitted by Mothers & Others for Clean Air for reducing community exposure to diesel exhaust in the Atlanta area. M&O will continue working to integrate diesel emissions reduction and mitigation measures into local, state and regional freight planning efforts.

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Since the founding of Mothers & Others for Clean Air in 2005, the program has relied on Georgia PTA to facilitate outreach to parents of school-age children. Every summer, at the annual Georgia PTA Convention and Training, M&O speaks with hundreds of parents and teachers about the importance of clean air and ways for schools to reduce air pollution and protect kids on “bad air” days.

In May 2010, Georgia PTA accepted our invitation to become the seventh formal partner of Mothers & Others for Clean Air, joining American Lung Association in Georgia, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Georgia Conservancy, Morehouse School of Medicine, Physicians for Social Responsibility and Rollins School of Public Health at Emory. M&O is very pleased to strengthen its relationship with Georgia PTA and is exploring ways in which the two organizations can partner to promote children’s health and wellness.

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House Bill 277, the transportation bill approved by the Georgia General Assembly in April and signed by Governor Perdue last month, includes a provision giving Gwinnett, Cobb and Clayton Counties another chance to opt into the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) system. Clayton County transit advocates believe this opportunity could enable their community to re-establish bus service and also raise the operating funds needed for Georgia to draw down federal funding to build a commuter rail line from Atlanta to Griffin.

Will Clayton County join MARTA? First, the Clayton Commission has to vote to place the referendum on the November ballot. If it does vote to hold the referendum, then a majority of voters have to agree to the 1% tax in order for Clayton to join the MARTA system.

Clayton County residents supporting the restoration of public transit in their county by joining MARTA have created a Facebook page for their campaign; check out Friends of Clayton Transit if you are interested in supporting this effort.

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Hot, dry weather in late May and early June has resulted in five “code orange” days for ozone so far this summer, according to Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division (EPD). To reduce your own exposure and that of children in your care, please review our guidelines and ask your child’s summer camp directors and any other childcare providers for your family members if they are following them.

Smog alerts that arrive in your email inbox and are announced on public radio and local television news sources reflect a well-informed prediction made the day before. Because the smog alerts are based on predictions, sometimes a “yellow” day, that does not trigger an alert, actually turns out to be “orange.” As such, it may be helpful to bookmark EPD’s smog forecast site that displays the predicted color and pay attention to yellow days, as well as orange or red. This site does not, however, provide “day of” information about WHICH pollutant is expected to be high, so it is best also to continue monitoring smog alert emails, as the emails do list the predicted pollutant of concern (usually ozone or fine particles).

It is important to know the pollutant of concern because ozone and fine particle pollution behave differently—ozone typically peaks late afternoon, whereas fine particle pollution peaks during morning and afternoon rush hour and may remain high all day. When ozone is high, outdoor time should be limited between 2:00 and 7:00 pm; when fine particle pollution is high, an air-conditioned, indoor space is the best choice for as much of the day as possible.

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A UCLA-led study published online in the American Journal of Physiology–Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology in June shows that very tiny air pollutant particles, known as ultrafine particles, cause inflammation deep in the lungs. Ultrafine particles from traffic are coated with organic chemicals that are released into the lung tissues and cells and cause damage through a process called oxidation. Oxidation causes airway inflammation in the lungs of people with asthma. Concentrations of these particles are high along and near freeways and other corridors with heavy traffic.

The study found that exposure to ultrafine particles for only a few hours a day throughout the course of a week enhanced allergic airway inflammation. Researchers hope that future studies will reveal the mechanism that air pollution particles play in asthma flares, leading to the development of improved therapies for this chronic condition.

Protect yourself and your loved ones by avoiding busy roadways when exercising, and follow our Guidelines for Georgia Families: Outdoor Activity and Air Pollution. When driving on congested roads, particularly when sharing the road with diesel trucks, using the recirculation option can reduce the amount of pollution inside your car.

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