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Air Quality Hotline
The Air Quality Hotline, sponsored by the American Lung Association of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, is available by calling 1-800-882-1497.
Bad air day? We'll tell you. And it's a free call.
Your lungs work hard for you, filtering and processing about two gallons of air a minute. That's about 3,000 gallons - - and 20,000 breaths - every day. So of course we want to know that the air we breathe is clean.
But healthy air is not always what we get. Nearly every summer there's a problem: ground-level ozone, what we commonly call smog. Most of the ozone around us comes from hydrocarbons - the main ingredient in gasoline and other fuels - chemically reacting with another group of pollutants called nitrogen oxides - produced when fuels are burned - on hot, sunny days.
Smog burns your lungs like the sun burns your skin, and the damage can be permanent. Smog can trigger itchy eyes, coughing, headaches, and chest pains. If you're one of the 750,000 Massachusetts residents with heart or respiratory conditions, smoggy days can mean real trouble, so you should avoid being outdoors as much as possible.
Even the healthiest people find it difficult to breathe when smog levels are high. Outdoor exercise enthusiasts should skip the workout that day or work out early in the morning, when the air is cleanest.
The trick is knowing when to expect a bad air day. That's why scientists at the MA Department of Environmental Protection continuously monitor ozone concentrations at stations across Massachusetts from May through September. Then using that information and weather forecasts, DEP - - in cooperation with the American Lung Association - - predicts smog levels each day.
You can hear that prediction by calling the Air Quality Hotline at 1-800-882-1497. The report is updated daily Sunday through Friday and Friday's report predicts air quality for the weekend.
Indoor Air Quality/Tools For Schools
An easy-to-use kit that helps school personnel identifies potential I.A.Q. problems and offers, simple low-cost solutions. The kit, developed by EPA, is cosponsored by ALA and five school organizations, including the National Education Association (NEA) and the National PTA.
Pollen Collecting Station
With stations located on the campus of STCC in Springfield and at Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield, these stations monitor tree, grass and weed pollen levels as well as mold counts in Western Massachusetts. Pollen counts can be obtained by calling the American Lung Association at 413-737-3506. Counts are also available in the Union News on page 2 daily, as well as on the weather forecast of 22News in the evening and News 40 in the morning.
Radon Education/Home Test Kits
Radon is an invisible and odorless gas that can enter homes through cracks in the basement floor or from well water.
- Prolonged exposure to radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer after smoking.
- Only one in five homes has a radon problem. But the only way to know if your home is free of radon is to test it.
The American Lung Association of Massachusetts is offering a Radon Test Kit and Information Packet for $12.00. This includes postage and handling.
To order a kit, or for additional information, please call 1-800-LUNG USA.
Additional information on radon may be obtained from the national website of the American Lung Association at www.lungusa.org. Then choose "AIR QUALITY" from the menu. Or you may access the United States Environmental Protection Agency's radon information directly at www.epa.gov/iaq/radon/index.html.
For information about mitigation, visit these websites:
National Radon Proficiency Program of the National Environmental Health Association (http://www.neha-nrpp.org)
National Radon Safety Board (http://www.nrsb.org)
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