EPA Public Hearing on Ozone 

February 2, 2010 

Location: Hilton Houston Hobby Airport Moody Ballroom (located on the ground floor) 8181 

Airport Boulevard, Houston, Texas 77061 

 6pm 

Testimony from Harold J. Farber, MD, MSPH 

Associate Professor 

Pediatric Pulmonary Section 

Baylor College of Medicine 

Texas Children’s Hospital 

Why we need a new ozone standard: 

EPA must strengthen the national air quality standards for ozone in the air we breathe.

The current standards fail to protect the health of millions of Americans, as the Clean Air

Act requires.

I support a much tighter national air quality standard of 60 parts per billion (0.060 parts

per million), to protect the health of those most at risk‐children, teens, seniors, and

people with chronic lung diseases like asthma.

The science is clear that EPA must substantially strengthen the ozone standard to 

protect public health. 

To protect the health of children, the elderly and other sensitive groups, EPA should set 

the ozone standard at 60 ppb 

The law requires EPA to base its decision solely on the need to protect public health.

Groups that have called for a 0.060 ppm ozone standard include: American Academy of 

Pediatrics, American Lung Association, American Public Health Association, and the 

American Thoracic Society, 
Although I am sure that these studies have already been identified by CASAC, Let me briefly 

highlight a few key scientific articles that document the harm of ozone and the benefits of 

reducing the standard to 0.60 ppm: 

1) Atlanta during the summer Olympics,1996: 

Olympic preparations included strategy to minimize road traffic congestion, including an 

integrated 24 hr/day public transportation service, closure of downtown to private 

automobiles, and altered downtown delivery schedules. 

With this the 1 hour peak ozone decreased from 81.3 ppb to 58.6 ppb during the Olympic 

Games. Associated with this childhood asthma emergency department visits dropped by 

40% and asthma hospitalizations dropped by 20%. 

(JAMA 2001;285:897-905) 

2) Southern California, 1993-199 

Children in high ozone and low ozone communities were followed 

The maximum 1 hour ozone averaged 50.1 in the low ozone communities, and 75.4 in the 

high ozone communities. 

Children who played 3 or more sports in high ozone communities had 3 times the risk of 

developing asthma as children in low ozone communities. 

3) The Children’s Health Study, Southern California: 

Monthly prevalence of asthma medication use was associated with monthly average 

ozone levels, with 3 times the asthma among children who were reported to spend more 

time outdoors. 

Mean summer ozone levels peaked at 70-100 ppb in the high ozone communities, but 

were below 60 ppb in the low ozone communities. 

Archives of Environmental Health 2004;59(10): 505-514. 

4) Among non-smoking California University Students, lifetime exposure to ozone 

levels above 60 ppb was associated with decreases in small airways function (FEF 

25-75), with a 167 ml/sec decrease (about 5% - 10% of predicted) for each 10ppb 

increment in ozone. 

Environ Res 1997;72(1):8-23 

5) Among patients with Cystic Fibrosis, a 10 ppb increase in ozone was associated with 

a 10% increase in odds of having 2 or more pulmonary exacerbations. 

 (1999 and 2000 CF Foundation Registry data) 

Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2004 Apr 1;169(7):816-21. 

I could go on. The science is clear. Current ozone standards do not sufficiently protect 

the public health. Harm to the respiratory health of children has been clearly 

demonstrated. To protect the health of children, the 8 hour ozone standard should be 

reduced to 60 ppb.