Atlanta air dirtier than last year

By Ty Tagami

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The air in Atlanta will officially be dirtier than it was last year if the prediction for more smog on Thursday comes true.

Georgia's Environmental Protection Division has issued yet another warning about the crummy air.

The forecast is for an accumulation of particulates that is "unhealthy" for some. Children, those who are "sensitive" to ozone and those with heart or lung disease should avoid outdoor exertion in the afternoon and evening when the smog is at its worst.

The same warning has gone out every day since Sunday, marking the longest stretch of lung-burning air -- five days -- since 2008, according to Sarah Waters, a spokeswoman for the Clean Air Campaign in Atlanta.

If the "Code Orange" forecasts for Wednesday and Thursday are borne out by actual measurements, Atlanta also will have surpassed last year's run of hazy days.

On 14 days in 2009, the metro area violated the acceptable level for particulates established by federal regulators, said Brian Carr, a Campaign spokesman. Thursday would mark the 15th day this year, and the smog season is far from over.

The primary ingredients are the fumes produced by traffic and the volatile organic compounds from vegetation. It takes heat to cook them into noxious ground-level ozone, and Atlanta has had plenty of that this summer. More dog days are surely on the way, though the rain forecast for Friday and the weekend could cleanse the air temporarily.

So far, despite the bad air, there doesn't appear to be an upwelling of complaints, at least at Atlanta's public hospital.

Doctors in the emergency room at Grady Memorial Hospital aren't keeping a formal tally, but they haven't noticed more asthmatics or patients with bronchitis, said hospital spokeswoman Denise Simpson.

"From what they can tell," she said, "the numbers are staying about the same as where they were last year."