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VICE PRESIDENT GORE UNVEILS NEW AIR QUALITY INDEX THAT INCLUDES NEW PROTECTIONS FOR AMERICANS WITH SENSITIVE CONDITIONS, SUCH AS ASHTMA, AT GROUND-BREAKING FOR THE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL AT MONTEFIORE

Release Date: 07/26/99
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On Saturday, July 24, Vice President Gore announced the Environmental Protection Agency is issuing a new Air Quality Index to provide critical information about health precautions to take on days when air pollution levels threaten public health. The press release is attached for your information.
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For Immediate Release Contact:
Saturday, July 24, 1999 202/456-7035
New York, New York -- Today, at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, Vice President Gore announced that the Environmental Protection Agency is issuing a new Air Quality Index that provides critical information about precautions Americans should take on days when air pollution poses threats to public health. This new index, for the first time, includes special precautions Americans with sensitive health conditions should take, particularly the six million children with asthma. The Vice President also praised Montefiore for their new commitment to serve children in the Bronx and highlighted other important efforts to improve children’s health.

“This new Air Quality Index is a critical tool Americans need to protect their health,” said Vice President Gore. “It will empower parents and communities to protect children, particularly the six million children who suffer from asthma. We must give families the tools they need to assure our children can grow healthy and strong.”

Unveils New Air Quality Index That Gives Americans Critical Information to Take Necessary Health Precautions, Including a New Category for Those With Special Health Conditions Like Asthma. The new Air Quality Index will provide a uniform format nationwide as well as new health messages for sensitive groups, such as children with asthma. This new index will be used by local weather forecasters throughout the country to provide improved information about levels of local air pollution and the precautions people should take to protect themselves on days when air pollution exceeds health standards and poses threats to public health. This new effort is part of the Administration’s longstanding commitment to expand the public’s right to know about environmental conditions in their communities. The new features of the Air Quality Index announced today include:

A new category that, for the first time, will provide specific warnings for sensitive groups, like children with asthma and others with special respiratory conditions.

More detailed warnings about how all people should protect themselves and their families from harmful levels of air pollution.

Warnings based on the most up-to-date scientific information on the known health effects of air pollution levels.

In addition to the new Air Quality Index, EPA also is making information about summer smog available on its Internet web site, which currently shows animated maps of smog dispersion in real-time for 25 states. This Ozone Mapping Project, as it is called, is part of a 1996 Administration initiative to provide Americans with even greater access to information about pollution in their communities. EPA expects that within two years, all 50 states will be participating in the Ozone Mapping Project, which is available on the Internet at www.epa.gov/airnow. This web site also shows forecasts of local air quality for the next day. The Vice President underscored that this new Air Quality Index is part of a broad-based effort to improve children’s health.

Today, the Vice President also:

Urged Congress to Pass a Comprehensive Asthma Initiative. Over the past 15 years, the number of children afflicted with asthma has doubled to total about six million, with the most rapid increase in children under the age of five. Over 100,000 children are hospitalized each year due to asthma, making it the leading cause of hospitalization due to chronic illness for children. Asthma is also one of the leading reasons children are absent from school, resulting in over 10 million missed school days each year. Minority children are disproportionately affected by asthma: African American children experience a death rate four times higher than white children.

The Vice President urged the Congress to pass the Administration’s $68 million comprehensive strategy to fight childhood asthma that includes: (1) implementing school-based programs that teach children how to effectively manage their asthma; (2) investing in research to determine environmental causes of asthma and to develop new strategies to reduce children’s exposure to asthma triggers; (3) providing funds to states and providers to help them implement effective disease management strategies that will insure we lower hospitalizations, emergency room visits and deaths from asthma; and (4) conducting a new public information campaign to reduce exposure to asthma triggers and dust mites.

Highlighted Other Critical Efforts to Improve Children’s Health. The Vice President reiterated his commitment to assuring that children have access to affordable health insurance. Uninsured children are more likely to be sick as newborns, less likely to be immunized as preschoolers, and less likely to receive treatment for injuries or illnesses, such as asthma or ear infections. The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) that the Vice President fought for in 1996 is the largest investment in children’s health in a generation. The Vice President also underscored the importance of assuring that the four million uninsured children who are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP are enrolled. The Administration has also launched a massive public-private campaign to sign up these kids. Last year, at the Family Conference in Tennessee, hosted by Vice President and Mrs. Gore, the Administration directed Federal Agencies to implement 150 new efforts to sign up uninsured kids, such as working in Head Start Centers and through school lunch programs that reach many of these children.

Praised Montefiore Children’s Hospital for Their Commitment to Children. The Vice President applauded the groundbreaking of the new Children’s Hospital at Montefiore that will provide critical health services for the 400,000 children in the Bronx. This hospital will include a range of services including a comprehensive asthma center. The asthma hospitalization rate for children in the Bronx is five times higher than the normal rate. The hospital will also include the Carl Sagan Discovery Center that will provide innovative exhibits to engage children on science, nature, and cosmos.

The original Air Quality Index, introduced in 1976, has not been updated in over twenty years and has been reported inconsistently throughout the country. The new Air Quality Index is based on the most up-to-date scientific health information and reports on levels of five major air pollutants: smog, soot, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide. As levels of any or all of these air pollutants rise beyond health standards, more detailed precautionary health warnings are triggered. Moreover the new index includes for the first time a new category “unhealthy for sensitive health groups” to provide specific precautions for those with conditions such as asthma. The new Air Quality Index will appear as follows:

AIR QUALITY	POLLUTION MEASUREMENT	HEALTH PROTECTION WARNING FOR SMOG
GOOD	0-50	NO HEALTH IMPACTS ARE EXPECTED WHEN AIR QUALITY IS IN THIS RANGE
MODERATE	51-100	UNUSUALLY SENSITIVE PEOPLE SHOULD CONSIDER LIMITING PROLONGED OUTDOOR EXERTION
UNHEALTHY FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS	101-150	ACTIVE CHILDREN AND ADULTS, AND PEOPLE WITH RESPIRATORY DISEASE, SUCH AS ASTHMA, SHOULD LIMIT PROLONGED OUTDOOR EXERTION
UNHEALTHY	151-200	ACTIVE CHILDREN AND ADULTS, AND PEOPLE WITH RESPIRATORY DISEASE, SUCH AS ASTHMA, SHOULD AVOID PROLONGED OUTDOOR EXERTION; EVERYONE ELSE, ESPECIALLY CHILDREN, SHOULD LIMIT PROLONGED OUTDOOR EXERTION
VERY UNHEALTHY (ALERT)	201-300	ACTIVE CHILDREN AND ADULTS, AND PEOPLE WITH RESPIRATORY DISEASE, SUCH AS ASTHMA, SHOULD AVOID ALL OUTDOOR EXERTION; EVERYONE ELSE, ESPECIALLY CHILDREN, SHOULD LIMIT OUTDOOR EXERTION.

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