### 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 substa ntially strengthen the ozone standard to protect public health.

To protect the health of children, the elderl y 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, Ameri can 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.