smog

Ground-level ozone, often referred to as smog, is front and center on the policy agenda of environmental groups and legislators at all levels of government. Over the past several years, high-profile studies published by the American Lung Association, the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) and the Clean Air Network (a consortium of environmental advocacy groups) have claimed that ozone is having a severe impact on public health, both nationwide and in North Carolina. These reports have gotten a great deal of media attention but very little media scrutiny.

Summary: During debates about air pollution in North Carolina, supporters of more regulation have asserted that high rates of childhood asthma are related to increasing exposure to ground-level ozone. Not only has there been no such increase, but a new study shows there is, if anything, an inverse correlation — the higher the ozone level, the lower the asthma rate. Next time, lawmakers and the media should check the facts before repeating unfounded and politically motivated allegations.

Flawed studies and ignorance about North Carolina air quality have given lawmakers and the general public an inaccurate picture of trends in ground-level ozone, or "smog," in some cases exaggerating public exposure by a factor of 10. This study reexamines air-quality data from monitors across the state, concluding that exposure to dangerous ozone levels is surprisingly rare - and is dropping even without passage of the proposed "Clean Smokestacks" legislation.