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THE CAUSE
Particulates come from cars, trucks, buses, power plants, factories, construction sites, tilled fields and cleared land, unpaved roads, stone crushing, wood burning and wildfires. Wind-borne particulates can travel into the valley from other areas or be generated locally.
THE CURE
Avoid driving on dirt roads or drive slowly on them, ride the bus or a bicycle, combine errands into one trip to reduce driving, keep vehicles well-tuned and tires properly inflated, reduce recreational use of fireplaces and barbecue grills, conserve electricity, and use dust suppressants or vegetation to control dust from cleared land. Also, drive off-road vehicles slowly and away from homes to reduce dust emissions and exposure.
Source: Pima County Department of Environmental Quality

Tucson Region

Murky haze spawns air- quality alert

Winds kick up particulate levels, posing respiratory risk for some
By Tony Davis
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 11.11.2008
When the dust swirls around Tucson, your lungs can become pollution targets.
That was the case Sunday and Monday, when high winds pushed particle levels in the air to unusually high — but not unlawful — levels in Midtown Tucson and Green Valley. The Pima County Department of Environmental Quality issued an air-quality advisory Monday, warning that the dust could cause respiratory problems in people with lung or heart disease. People sensitive to dust pollution were urged to reduce their amount of time outdoors.
Scientific studies have linked breathing particulate matter to significant health problems, including asthma, coughing, difficult or painful breathing, throat irritation, chronic bronchitis, decreased lung function and premature death, the department said Monday.
The large-particle levels in the air climbed to much higher than normal levels at the following times Sunday and Monday:
● To as high as 354 micrograms per cubic meter at a county air monitor near East Grant Road and North First Avenue at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Typical levels range from 20 to 70 micrograms, but the levels topped 100 for 10 hours at that monitor Sunday. On Monday, the levels exceeded 100 every hour from midnight until 2 p.m.
● To as high as 265 micrograms per cubic meter from a Green Valley monitor at 4 a.m. Monday. The levels exceeded 100 for five hours Sunday and 11 hours Monday.
● For 12 hours total Sunday and Monday, the Green Valley levels topped the federal Environmental Protection Agency standard of 150 micrograms. The levels at the Grant and First Avenue monitor were above that standard 14 hours in the same period. The air quality didn't formally exceed the legal standard because that requires particulate levels to average more than 150 over 24 hours — which didn't happen.
Still, "yesterday was pretty awful, really miserable. You couldn't see the mountains," said Beth Gorman, a department program manager, on Monday.
But air quality was steadily improving Monday afternoon, she said. The county hasn't recorded a formal violation of the particle standard since 1999.
● Contact reporter Tony Davis at 806-7746 or tdavis@azstarnet.com.
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