Again this year, Pennsylvanians will know when the outside summer air is unhealthy, thanks to daily ozone forecasts anyone can receive by email.

DEP is working with the Susquehanna Valley, Southwest Pennsylvania and Lehigh Valley/Berks County air quality partnerships regions as well as the Southeast Region to develop and distribute the forecasts and other information on ozone and air pollution.

The daily ozone forecasts will be issued every day at 2 p.m. until the ozone season ends in mid-September.

Ozone in the upper atmosphere protects the skin by shielding it from harmful ultraviolet rays. But ground-level ozone is a key component of smog and forms during warm weather when pollution from vehicles, industry, households and power plants “bakes” in the hot sun.

Young children, the elderly, people with asthma or other lung ailments, and those who work or exercise regularly outdoors are most susceptible to the harmful effects of ground-level ozone.

The forecast features the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s standardized Air Quality Index (AQI) that uses color to represent ozone concentrations (green signifies good, yellow means moderate, orange represents unhealthy ozone levels for sensitive people, and red warns of unhealthy ozone levels for all). DEP also provides year-round forecasts for fine particulate matter, commonly called PM2.5.

People who do not have Internet access may call a partnership’s toll-free ozone hotlines: Susquehanna Valley, 1-888-772-1306; Lehigh Valley/Berks County, 1-877-517-2969; Southwest Pennsylvania, 1-800-333-7688; and Southeast Pennsylvania, 1-800-872-7261.

To sign up for daily ozone forecasts, get tips on how you can reduce ozone pollution, for educational materials teachers and students can use and for information on how you can join the regional air pollution partnerships, visit the Air Quality Partnership webpage.

Watch this entertaining video designed to teach students about ozone pollution by going to the Air Quality Partnership webpage (look in upper right corner)

5/5/2006