Maine's Air Poor air quality threatens Maine in a multitude of ways. Ozone significantly increases the frequency of asthma attacks and respiratory distress for the 82,000 asthmatics who live in Maine. Ozone also damages many tree and plant species. Particulate matter is linked with permanent respiratory ailments, cancer and early deaths.
Carbon monoxide can cause death and illness and also contributes to global warming.
Airborne mercury, which ends up in our waters and fish, is a particular risk to the elderly, pregnant women, and children. Maine's air emissions originate from within the state and also blow in here from upwind states. Addressing the long-range transport of ozone into Maine remains critical to achieving healthy air in Maine. Compounding the problem of long-range transport of air pollution into Maine is the impact of electric utility restructuring. Preliminary studies of the electric utility sector, which is the single largest source of industrial pollution in the U.S., have found that deregulation has not decreased pollution as originally anticipated, but rather has increased it.