Protect yourself as smog season ‘09 begins

Welcome to smog season, when the view starts to blur. May 1 through Sept. 30, metro Atlanta’s toxic combination of traffic, industry and hot summer days are likely to create an unhealthy level of air pollution on more than two dozen days.

This is your guide on what you need to know about bad air days, and how you can help.

RELATED:
• www.cleanaircampaign.org
• Air quality in metro Atlanta

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What is smog?

The main ingredients are ground-level ozone, which is a chemical reaction formed when pollution mixes with summer heat and particle pollution, which is also known as soot. The pollution comes from cars, trucks, airplanes, trains, power plants and factories.

How does it affect people?

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says smog can lead to early death. It also can make it hard for even healthy people to breathe. The most vulnerable are the very old and very young, and people with asthma and other respiratory and heart diseases

What can I do to protect myself?

Sign up at www.cleanaircampaign.org for smog forecasts issued every afternoon by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. On orange and red alert days, you can limit your exposure by avoiding outdoor activity between noon and 7 p.m. Vulnerable groups also should limit outside activity on yellow alert days.

What can I do to make a difference?

Metro Atlanta’s No. 1 source of air pollution is actually millions of sources: The vehicles we drive every day. The best way to reduce air pollution in the region is for more people to carpool, take mass transit, telework, bike or walk.

The Clean Air Campaign, a public-private partnership to get cars off metro Atlanta’s roads, can help. The campaign offers cash incentives to entice commuters to try alternatives, including gas cards for carpools of three or more people. Find carpool and van-pool partners who live and work near you from the campaign’s database of 45,000 people.

If you drive, you can still reduce pollution by:

• Keeping your vehicle — including the tires — properly maintained to improve fuel efficiency.

• Reducing trips by running all your errands at once.

• Turning off your car instead of idling, even for short stops.

• Refueling at night.

For information, go to www.cleanaircampaign.org or call 877-CLEANAIR (253-2624).