Goodbye pollen; hello smog

Just nine days into the 2011 ozone forecasting season, we had a “Code Orange” on our hands.

In an alert issued Sunday afternoon, the state Environmental Protection Division predicted that Atlanta’s air quality Monday would be “unhealthy for sensitive groups,” such as children, people who are sensitive to ozone and people with heart or lung disease.

Last year, the city’s ozone level had exceeded federal standards twice by this point, on May 5 and 6. In 2010, the city’s ozone level exceeded those standards a total of 25 times during the ozone forecasting season, which runs from May 1 through Sept. 30.

Tips for high-alert days

The Clean Air Campaign, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Mothers & Others for Clean Air offer some tips for weathering smog.

● Avoid strenuous outdoor activities, especially between the hours of 2 and 7 p.m.

● Consider taking MARTA or a carpool. With about half of smog-forming emissions coming from tailpipes, smoggy days are good days to find alternatives to driving solo.

● Know your triggers. Whether or not you have asthma, heavy smog days can cause breathing problems for some people.

● Sign up with the Clean Air Campaign (www.cleanair campaign.org) to get smog alerts sent to your inbox.

UNDERSTANDING THE CODES

A guide to the standard Air Quality Index*:

* The AQI is an index that applies to multiple pollutants, each of those having different measurement numbers and breaking points based on national standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Source: Clean Air Campaign