Community Corner
Plainfield Smog Alert: If It Feels Like It's Tougher to Breathe Today, It Is
When an orange-level air pollution alert is issued, Plainfield's affected just as much as Chicago, experts say.
When you hear those smog alerts for hot days in the Chicago area, don’t think that doesn’t mean you, .
“When we issue these high-ozone alerts, it’s a regional problem,” Urbaszewski said. “It’s not just for Chicago or the lakefront or urban areas. It’s a regionwide problem.”
Metro Chicago got a taste of the summer’s first orange air pollution levels Tuesday. We get our own regional shot of ozone pollution when the coal-fired power plants in Joliet and Romeoville ramp into overdrive to crank out electricity as we all dial our air conditioners up to “high,” said Brian Urbaszewski, director of environmental health programs for the Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago.
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“There are two dozen coal-fired power plants in the Chicago area and most of them are upwind of Plainfield,” he said.
Hot, sunny, calm weather like the Chicago region is sweating out this week breeds unhealthy levels of ozone (another word for smog) and fine particles (sounds better than soot).
Find out what's happening in Plainfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The entire Chicago area fails to meet federal health standards for ozone set in 1997. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency first proposed tighter ozone regulations in January 2010 and advocates for healthy lungs hope they may finally take effect by the end of July.
Ozone is an unstable caustic gas that works like chlorine bleach in killing such things as bacteria and germs. But when we breathe it in, the linings of our lungs swell as they try to repair the damage while struggling to get oxygen in and out, Urbaszewski said.
“It’s hard to avoid,” he said. “Air is everywhere.”
Orange air quality levels are deemed “unhealthy for sensitive groups,” including children, the elderly and people with lung diseases, including asthma. Chicago, Cook County and most of the collar counties are on track for record orange air quality levels this week, experts say.
ARGOUDELIS WATCH: 218 days since Election Day 2010 and still no statement from Plainfield Township Supervisor John Argoudelis on whether he intends to be both township supervisor and a Will County Board member.
