L.A. SMOG BLAMED FOR SENDING THOUSANDS TO EMERGENCY ROOMS.Byline: Steven J. Gorman Daily News Staff Writer Los Angeles leads 12 other major U.S. cities in the number of hospital admissions and emergency room visits attributed to ground-level ozone pollution, according to a study the American Lung Association The American Lung Association (ALA) is a non-profit organization that "fights lung disease in all its forms, with special emphasis on asthma, tobacco control and environmental health". plans to release today. Figures compiled from the city's peak smog season in 1993 show that an estimated 10,845 people were hospitalized as a result of such respiratory problems as asthma, pneumonia chronic bronchitis chronic bronchitis n. Inflammation of the bronchial mucous membrane, characterized by cough, hypersecretion of mucus, and expectoration of sputum over a long period of time and associated with increased vulnerability to bronchial infection. and emphysema emphysema (ĕmfĭsē`mə), pathological or physiological enlargement or overdistention of the air sacs of the lungs. A major cause of pulmonary insufficiency in chronic cigarette smokers, emphysema is a progressive disease that commonly , the study found. This accounted for 8.5 percent of all hospital admissions for respiratory ailments in Los Angeles from March to November of that year, the Lung Association reported. In addition, ozone pollution was blamed for sending an estimated 3,615 people to emergency rooms during that period, about 8.5 percent of all respiratory ER visits. Both in terms of sheer numbers and the share of admissions and ER visits linked to ozone, Los Angeles ranked highest among 13 cities studied by the Lung Association. New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. and San Diego ranked second and third for both admissions and emergency room visits in terms of numbers. ``Though we've seen a lot of improvement in our air quality in Los Angeles, we still have the distinction of having the worst air quality in the country,'' said Andrew Weisser, a spokesman for the Lung Association. Other cities included in the study were Baltimore, Dallas, Detroit, Hartford, Conn., Houston, Milwaukee, New Haven, Conn., Philadelphia, St. Louis and Washington, D.C. For all 13 cities combined, the ozone was linked to about 10,000 to 15,000 hospital admissions and to between 30,000 and 50,000 emergency room visits during the high-ozone seasons for those areas in 1993 or 1994, the report said. Ground-level ozone, a type of smog, is a gas produced when sunlight reacts with hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides emitted from the combustion of fossil fuels, particularly automobiles. Unlike the layer of ozone that occurs naturally in the upper atmosphere and absorbs harmful ultraviolet rays Ultraviolet rays Invisible light rays with a wavelength shorter than that of visible light but longer than that of x rays. Mentioned in: Sunscreens that can cause cancer, ground-level ozone acts as a strong respiratory irritant that can trigger shortness of breath Shortness of Breath Definition Shortness of breath, or dyspnea, is a feeling of difficult or labored breathing that is out of proportion to the patient's level of physical activity. , chest pains, wheezing Wheezing Definition Wheezing is a high-pitched whistling sound associated with labored breathing. Description Wheezing occurs when a child or adult tries to breathe deeply through air passages that are narrowed or filled with mucus as a and coughing at levels frequently found in most urban areas during the summer months, the Lung Association says. Ozone also is believed to contribute to lung disease lung disease Pulmonary disease Pulmonology Any condition causing or indicating impaired lung function Types of LD Obstructive lung disease–↓ in air flow caused by a narrowing or blockage of airways–eg, asthma, emphysema, chronic bronchitis; , which claims more than 300,000 lives in the United States each year. In Los Angeles, air quality has been steadily improving, but the region still has the worst smog in the country. The peak ozone level last year stood at 0.26 parts per million parts per million mg/kg or ml/l; see ppm. - the lowest peak level ever recorded here. The federal ozone standard is 0.12 ppm, measured over a one-hour period. Air pollution officials say there is no doubt that air-quality regulations have accounted for a steady improvement in the region's air, making it about one-third cleaner than 10 years ago. But some part of the region still violates federal air-quality standards once every three days. Today's study adds to a large body of scientific evidence documenting harmful effects of ozone at levels well below the federal ozone standard. All 13 cities studied for the report are classified by the Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), independent agency of the U.S. government, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1970 to reduce and control air and water pollution, noise pollution, and radiation and to ensure the safe handling and as having failed to achieve compliance with the standard, set under the Clean Air Act. |
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