Don’t let ozone make Los Angeles a no-go zone

As temperatures rise, so do smog levels. The haze is unavoidable, disgusting and, most importantly, probably killing you.The Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County area is the No. 1 worst metropolis in ozone air pollution in the United States.

A new study released by the New England Journal of Medicine reports that long-term exposure to ozone, a pollutant that creates smog, can be harmful to health even at low levels.

The study found that people who lived in cities with high ozone concentrations had as much as a 300 percent higher chance of developing lung disease than those living in low ozone concentration areas.

The Environmental Protection Agency has virtually no regulations set up to evaluate long-term exposure; all of its current regulations look at ozone emissions in small blocks of as little as eight hours.

The lack of regulations for long-term exposure isn’t to say that the current regulations aren’t helpful. Studies have shown that the risks of asthma and heart attacks increase the day after high ozone levels. But this most recent study proves that these regulations aren’t enough, especially in cities, such as Los Angeles, that aren’t even meeting the current standards. The regulations aren’t enough to deal with the cumulative health effects of exposure to ozone.

More than 50 percent of the emissions that cause smog in California are created by motor vehicles. We can hope for better public transportation or that everyone will carpool or ride a bike more often, but realistically, the best chance to reduce these emissions is regulation. While new super-fuel-efficient cars are a step in the right direction, it’s impossible to avoid polluting the air when you’re driving.

In January, environmentalists and other folks who enjoy the use of their lungs celebrated when President Obama set the groundwork to allow California to enforce stricter regulations on vehicle tailpipe emissions.

Automakers could be required to produce two of every model: one that meets our state regulations and one they can sell to the rest of the country.

While we should applaud this move toward better government regulation, it’s hard not to feel disheartened while looking out at a jam-packed freeway filled with cars inching ever so slowly to their destinations.

Why do we continue to put the key into the ignition of what is, in the most dramatic terms, essentially a death machine? Why do we look at the fumes coming out of a tailpipe and shrug, without a care in the world for how those fumes will affect us, our neighbors or the atmosphere?

The answer is obvious. Cars are apparently an inextricable, unavoidable part of modern life. We cannot demand they disappear from today’s world.

We can, at least, be aware of the many complicated ways the modern lifestyle affects the world around us and applaud politicians who are trying to reduce our impact on ozone levels.

E-mail Ohlemacher at [email protected]. Send general comments to [email protected].