tailieunhanh - Smog—Who Does It Hurt? What You Need to Know About Ozone and Your Health

In the past 15 years, researchers have demonstrated that low literacy can have far-reaching consequences for an individual’s health. In our 2004 systematic review and related articles,49,50 we identified 44 articles describing results that addressed the relationship between literacy and use of health care services, health outcomes, costs of health care, and disparities. The report found that low or inadequate literacy (compared to adequate literacy) was strongly associated with poorer knowledge or comprehension of health care services and health Limited literacy was also associated with higher probability of hospitalization, higher prevalence and severity for some chronic diseases, poorer global. | United States Environmental Protection Agency Air and Radiation Washington DC 20460 EPA-452 K-99-001 July 1999 http oar oaqps 1EPA Smog Who Does It Hurt What You Need to Know About Ozone and Your Health Printed on paper containing at least VtỤ 30 postconsumer recovered fiber. Smog Who Does It Hurt What You Need to Know About Ozone and Your Health Ozone when it occurs at ground level presents a serious air quality problem in many parts of the United States. When inhaled-even at very low levels-ozone can cause a number of respiratory health effects. In fact breathing smoggy air can be hazardous because smog contains ozone a pollutant that can harm our health when there are elevated levels in the air we breathe. This publication will tell you what kinds of health effects ozone can cause when you should be concerned and what you can do to avoid dangerous exposures. What is ozone Ozone is an odorless colorless gas composed of three atoms of oxygen. Ozone occurs both in the Earth s upper atmosphere and at ground level. Ozone can be good or bad depending on where it is found Good Ozone. Ozone occurs naturally in the Earth s upper atmosphere 10 to 30 miles above the Earth s surface where it forms a protective layer that shields us from the sun s harmful ultraviolet rays. This good ozone is gradually being destroyed by manmade chemicals. An area where ozone has been most significantly depleted for example over the North or South pole is sometimes called a hole in the ozone. Bad Ozone. In the Earth s lower atmosphere near ground level ozone is formed when pollutants emitted by cars power plants industrial boilers refineries chemical plants and other sources react chemically in the presence of sunlight. The booklet Ozone Good Up High Bad Nearby which can be found on the web at http oar oaqps gooduphigh contains additional information about both good and bad ozone. This publication Smog Who Does It Hurt focuses on bad ozone that is ozone that occurs at