The air in Monmouth and Ocean counties has received failing grades for the second straight year, and that's bad news for the nearly 100,000 residents with asthma, chronic bronchitis or emphysema and others at risk. But the air quality improved in 2000 thanks to milder summer weather, said Amy Collings, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Protection. Ozone, a gas that in the upper atmosphere screens the sun's harmful radiation, is a powerful lung irritant at ground level and the chief ingredient in smog.
Ozone can cause shortness of breath, chest pain, throat irritation, coughing and wheezing.
Ozone forms after hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides react in strong sunlight. Motor vehicles and a variety of commercial and industrial sources emit hydrocarbons, while the burning of fuels such as coal and gasoline releases nitrogen oxides. High temperatures speed the hydrocarbons' evaporation and the chemical reactions that create ozone, which reaches its highest levels in New Jersey from May through September. A total of 419,671 children under 14 and people over 65 are also at risk in the two counties, the report says. The standard is 0.12 parts of ozone per million parts of air, measured over one hour.