Glossary:
American Lung Association -- Air Quality -- General Information Index
http://www.lungusa.org
Description:
General information about the importance of air quality, plus some county-level data on
air quality and lung disease prevalence. User-friendly summarization of research reports about the health effects of ozone (10 pp) and particulate matter (21
pp). “The State of the Air 2002 Report”—35 page report on US air quality, contains general
information about US air quality, even if you click on the NC report. Data source for
state of air: US Environmental Protection Agency’s Aerometric Information Retrieval System (AIRS) database. Most data updated annually. Links to a few
other sites.
Comments:
About the best one can do in getting data on air quality. Monitoring system spotty and inadequate in US rural areas, and varies greatly with elevation at which monitoring site is located, compromising validity of data.
Directions for reaching the following data:
From Home Page, select Data and Statistics. Under “Local Search” enter ZIP code of interest, OR under “Site Search” enter “North Carolina.” Select “View the State of the Air 2002 Report for North Carolina.”
- Air quality:Demographic breakdown/ populations: Vulnerable populations listed with current populations. Political unit(s): US, NC, County (only 33/100).
- Number of high ozone days in unhealthy range in past full year: Contents: Days in danger zone in 3-year period, grade for the county. Demographic breakdown/ populations: all residents. Political unit(s): 33 NC counties in which ozone is monitored. Notes: data are 3-5 years old.
Directions for reaching the following data:
From Home Page, select Data and Statistics. Under “Local Search” enter ZIP code of interest, OR under “Site Search” enter “North Carolina.” Select “View the estimated prevalence of lung disease for North Carolina.”
- Lung Disease: Contents: Lung cancer, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, adult asthma, pediatric asthma. Demographic breakdown/ populations: Estimated numbers of people with each disease, total county population. Political unit(s): All 100 NC counties.