TOUGH RULES ON SMOG MAY GET TOUGHER.

Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer

With the nation's toughest smog standards already on the books, California air-quality officials are considering tightening ozone limits even more in response to new research on the pollutant's impact on children.

The California Air Resources Board will vote April 28 on new state ozone standards aimed at protecting people from lung injuries that can result from breathing low levels of smog over several hours.

``We're trying to show that, to protect public health, we need the ozone standard to be set this low,'' said Gennet Paauwe, spokeswoman for the ARB. ``In California's opinion, we don't feel the health standard set forth by the federal government is protective enough.''

But industry groups say the state is pursuing an unreachable standard.

``Even if you took nine out of 10 people out of the Los Angeles basin and eliminated human activity, you still wouldn't attain the standard,'' said Steven Douglas, director of environmental affairs for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. ``There's no known way to meet these standards. They certainly didn't consider the economic impacts.''

Environmental groups have applauded the ARB's proposal, saying the state needs to aim for the lowest levels of pollution possible.

Although California has dramatically cut smog over the last two decades, Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley still haven't met state or federal ozone standards and rank among the smoggiest regions in the nation.

Health care, emergency room visits and school absences linked to smog cost California an estimated $521 million a year, according to an analysis by the Environmental Working Group released today. Bad air days also keep students inside during recess and after-school activities.

Smog is caused when emissions from tailpipes, aerosol sprays and industrial sources react in sunlight to form ozone. High levels of ozone irritate the lungs and can cause wheezing and difficulty breathing.

Researchers recently have found that children growing up in smoggy areas are more likely to develop asthma and to have underdeveloped lungs, a condition that can lead to increased risk of respiratory diseases and heart attacks later in life.

Under a 1999 law, state officials were required to look at that new smog research and revisit whether current air-quality standards are protective enough.

In response, the ARB staff recommended creating a new ozone standard designed to protect people from lung damage that can occur from breathing lower levels of ozone over a day. The proposed standard would limit ozone to 0.07 parts per million per eight-hour period.

That's slightly more stringent than the federal daily ozone limit of 0.08 ppm.

The ARB staff recommended keeping the current one-hour standard, which is designed to protect people from ozone spikes, at 0.09 ppm.

Kerry Cavanaugh, [phone]

kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com