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Posted 9/9/11 11:16 a.m.

NEW YORK (WLS) - With record pollen counts already on the board for August, this fall is gearing up to be one of the worst, and longest, allergy seasons yet, according to experts.

Thanks to a particularly wet summer, ragweed pollen levels are surging and standing water left over from summer flooding and Hurricane Irene has increased the amount of mold, a common year-round allergen, in the air.

“We’re going to have an allergy double whammy,” says Dr. Clifford Bassett, medical director of Allergy and Asthma Care of New York.

To top it all off, the allergy season is expected to last a few weeks longer than usual this year, according to research published earlier this year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

While spring allergies usually come from pollen from trees and grass, fall allergies are caused almost exclusively by ragweed pollen.  The season usually runs from mid-August until the first frost of the year, around early October, but if the frost is delayed, as is predicted for this year, the allergy season goes on indefinitely until it comes.

For many years, the allergy seasons have been “getting longer and longer … partly due to global warming,” says Estelle Levetin, chairwoman of the aerobiology committee for the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.

“As we’re seeing warmer and warmer weather, the fall gets warmer and longer and the effect is that there’s no frost to kill the ragweed and end the allergy season,” she says.

Rising temperatures have produced a similar lengthening of the spring allergy season, which is now starting about a month earlier than it did decades ago, she says.

Climate change isn’t only affecting the length of the allergy season, it’s affecting the severity.

“A single ragweed plant produces a million pollen grains, but if you expose it to greenhouse gases, it produces three to four times that much,” says Bassett.  “So you have climate change making for a longer season, more plants and more potent pollen.  It’s like a perfect storm,” he says.

ABC News Radio contributed to this report.

© Content Copyright 2011 WLS Radio 890AM and WLSAM.com. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 There’s no better slice of Americana than being out on the open road. You and the car together as one. Many cars now have the ability to choose the air coming into the car, either being re-circulated or coming from the outside.

Always choose outside not re-circ mode. Constantly re-circulating air and not bringing in new air could raise carbon dioxide levels in the car as we all expel CO2. This can cause you to become tired and sleepy.  Also in our cars we are near a source of carbon monoxide, an odorless and deadly gas. Again bringing in air from the outside dilutes gasses and keeps their levels low.

Lastly many newer cars are equipped with cabin air filters to trap contaminants from the air going in the car.  If you have one, be sure it’s replaced to the automakers specifications, dirty filters hold contaminants and can foster bacteria and mold growth, so replace them.

Enjoy the Ride!

By JOHN M. BRODER

 WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is abandoning its plan to immediately tighten air-quality rules nationwide to reduce emissions of smog-causing chemicals after an intense lobbying campaign by industry, which said the new rule would cost billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of jobs, officials said Friday.

 The Environmental Protection Agency, following the recommendation of its scientific advisers, had proposed lowering the so-called ozone standard from that set by the Bush administration to a new stricter standard that would have thrown hundreds of American counties out of compliance with the Clean Air Act. It would have required a major effort by state and local officials, as well as new emissions controls by industries and agriculture across the country.

 The more lenient Bush administration standard from 2008 will remain in place until a scheduled reconsideration of acceptable pollution limits in 2013, officials indicated Friday.

 In a statement, the president reiterated his commitment to environmental concerns, but said, “At the same time, I have continued to underscore the importance of reducing regulatory burdens and regulatory uncertainty, particularly as our economy continues to recover. With that in mind, and after careful consideration, I have requested that Administrator Jackson withdraw the draft Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards at this time.”

 In a letter to Lisa P. Jackson, the E.P.A. administrator, the head of the White House office of regulatory affairs, Cass Sunstein, said that the president was rejecting her proposal to tighten the standard.

 “He has made it clear he does not support finalizing the rule at this time,” Mr. Sunstein said.

 He said that changing the rule now would create uncertainty for business and local government. He also said there was no compelling reason to rewrite the ozone standard in advance of the scheduled reconsideration in 2013, a key demand of business interests.

 Ms. Jackson said in a statement, “This administration has put in place some of the most important standards and safeguards for clean air in U.S. history: the most significant reduction of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide air pollution across state borders; a long-overdue proposal to finally cut mercury pollution from power plants; and the first-ever carbon pollution standards for cars and trucks.”

 She said her agency would revisit the ozone standard, in compliance with the Clean Air Act.

 Mr. Sunstein told Ms. Jackson that since the rule is due for reconsideration in 2013, an earlier review would promote confusion and uncertainty.

 “In this light,” he wrote, “issuing a final rule in late 2011 would be problematic in view of the fact that a new assessment, and potentially new standards, will be developed in the relatively near future.”

 Environmental advocates expressed dismay at the decision.

 League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski issued the following statement:

 “The Obama administration is caving to big polluters at the expense of protecting the air we breathe,” Mr. Karpinski said. “This is a huge win for corporate polluters and huge loss for public health.”

 Mr. Sunstein said he was carefully scrutinizing regulations across the government to assure that they are cost-efficient and based on the best current science. He said that the E.P.A.’s scientific advisory panel should take a closer look at the most feasible level of ozone pollution consistent with environmental and health protections.

 The issue had become a flashpoint between the administration and Republicans in Congress, who held up the proposed ozone rule as a test of the White Houses commitment to regulatory reformand job creation. Imposing the new rule before the 2012 election would have created political problems for the administration and for Democrats nationwide seeking election in a brittle economy.

 Leaders of major business groups — including the United States Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, the American Petroleum Institute and the Business Roundtable — met with Ms. Jackson and with top White House officials earlier this summer seeking to moderate, delay or kill the rule. They told William Daley, the White House chief of staff, that the rule would be very costly to industry and would hurt Mr. Obama’s chances for re-election.

 John Engler, the former governor of Michigan and chairman of the Business Roundtable, said that the rule should be reconsidered in 2013, regardless of who is president. But he added that he thought Mr. Obama’s chances of retaining the office would be better if he dropped or delayed the ozone rule.

 Representative Eric Cantor, the majority leader, said this week that the House would review the ozone rule, along with a number of other environmental rules that he characterized as “job-killers.” The ozone rule, he said in a memo to Republican members, was one of the most onerous of the Obama administration’s proposed rules.

 “This effective ban or restriction on construction and industrial growth for much of America is possibly the most harmful of all the currently anticipated Obama administration regulations,” Mr. Cantor wrote. He said that the impact would be felt across the economy and cost as much as $1 trillion and millions of jobs over the next decade.

 The current standard for ozone is 75 parts per billion, set by the Bush administration in 2008 over the objections of E.P.A. scientists, who said that a standard between 60 ppb and 70 ppb was needed to protect public health. Ms. Jackson made clear her intention to follow the scientific advice and set a new, lower standard, by the end of this year. She has told associates that her ability to address this problem would be a reflection of her ability to perform her job.

 Ozone, or smog, contributes to a variety of ailments, including heart problems, asthma and other lung disorders

The Kansas City Star

A Study released today finds unhealthy levels of cigarette smoke in the gaming areas of local casinos.

The Problem has prompted the sponsors of the study, the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City and Clean Air Metro KC, to call on area cities to get rid of exemptions in their clean air laws that allow smoking in casinos.

“We encourage our area city councils to recognizes that the health of casino customers and employees is no less valuable than that of customers and employees in other work and public places,” said Norm Siegel, the health care foundation’s chairman.

The study measured fine particulate pollution in gaming areas of the Argosy in Riversidem the Ameristar and Isle of Capro in Kansas City, Harrah’s in North Kansas City, and the 7th Street Casino in Kansas City, Kan.  Two of the casinos had pollution levels considered unhealthy for people with heart or lung diseases; the three other had levels unhealthy for all people.  The casinos weren’t identified by name in the study.

The extremely small particles from tobacco smoke can be inhaled deeply into the lungs and contribute to asthma, bronchitis and heart diseases, said Don Potts, associate professor of medicine at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

“Those particles are so small they can actually be filtered into the bloodstream,” Potts said.

In a statement released by his office, Kansas City mayor Sly James said: “I will read the report released by the Greater Kansas City Health Foundation carefully.  This is serious issue raised by one of our community’s health care pillars.  Any response will need to be coordinated among area municipalities, and I will be interested in hearing what next steps the Health Care Foundation will propose.”

Summer time conjures up thoughts of vacations, etc but sometimes during the warm, humid summer months an unwanted, unwelcome guest can check into our homes. His name is MOLD.

Mold is a shy guest often times residing where the eye cannot see. That’s where that great IAQ monitor the nose comes in! Mildew to mold is like smoke to fire, if you smell it, it’s there somewhere.

What can you to help prevent mold from taking up residence in your home?

1. Keep areas dry, especially those damp basements. Your relative humidity level should be kept below 60%. If you suspect or know it is higher, get a dehumidifier.
2. Address water leaks immediately! Within 24 hours of a water leak, mold growth can begin.  If you have a leak or spill dry it up thoroughly as soon as possible. If a surface like a carpet or drywall has become saturated, replace it. If the problem has occurred over a large area, consult with a remediation / restoration company.
3. Clean your air! Pulling out spores from the air is like removing seeds from a garden. Use a good media filter (MERV 11 or better) along with  a bi-polar ionization air purifier.

Dr. Ion believes small changes can make big impacts and will be contributing my thoughts on things you can do to lead healthier, more fulfilling lives, charged with excitement.

Stay tuned for more to come.

Dr. Ion

AtmosAir Solutions of Fairfield, which markets and installs Green, bi-polar ionization indoor air purification products for homes and businesses, has received US General Service Administration (GSA) approval to sell its products to dozens of government agencies, including the military. AtmosAir’s GSA contract number is: GS-07F-0632X

“We are thrilled and excited with this GSA approval decision,” said Steve Levine, President and CEO of AtmosAir Solutions. “This GSA approval not only validates our product line, but now will allow us to sell our indoor clean air devices to dozens of authorized users from the Department of Agriculture and Department of Defense to the US Secret Service. It’s a huge accomplishment and advance for our company.”

“AtmosAir’s GSA Schedule contract will allow all agencies throughout the US government to more easily access products that will bring them a healthier workplace.” said Scott Orbach, President of EZGSA of Bethesda, MD., which assisted AtmosAir Solutions and other commercial enterprises in making products and services more accessible to government buyers and the federal marketplace via the GSA. “The combination of a quality product and availability through GSA will give AtmosAir a formidable competitive advantage. With the administration’s emphasis on the environment, GSA’s action could not have come at a better time for both AtmosAir and for federal workers.”

AtmosAir Solutions provides bi-polar ionization air purification products that significantly reduces mold, dust, odors, controls bacteria and the spread of airborne viruses, and reduces airborne particles and germs that get past normal heating and air conditioning ventilation and filtration systems in professional sports facilities, homes and businesses.

The US Army is already using AtmosAir devices at some bases as a part of a strategy to reduce energy usage and carbon footprint, and to help with compliance to US government workplace health and wellness guidelines.

AtmosAir’s clients read like a who’s who of brand name businesses: McDonald’s, Nestlé’s, Siemens, Walter Reed Army Hospital, New York’s Hospital for Special Surgery, Hyatt and Hilton Hotels. Even New York’s Carnegie Hall invested in clean indoor air systems.

The Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars installed AtmosAir systems in their training facilities and offices to address sports related odors, minimize allergens, protect against pathogens like Staph, MRSA and influenza and to minimize energy costs.

The six-year-old firm has seen its business boom in the past year, with sales up 20 percent and expectations they could reach 30 percent in 2011 as the public becomes more aware of the health dangers linked to poor air inside homes, office buildings, industrial spaces, commercial buildings, etc.

About AtmosAir Solutions:
AtmosAir Solutions provides bi-polar ionization air purification products that significantly reduces mold, dust, odors, controls bacteria and the spread of airborne viruses, and reduces airborne particles and germs that get past normal ventilation and filtration systems in professional sports facilities, homes and businesses. The company’s technology involves an all-natural process and produces no harmful by-products such as ozone or ultraviolet light, commonly found in many other products.

About EZGSA:
Since 1999, EZGSA’s skilled staff of contract negotiators, federal marketing professionals, government sales experts, and proposal specialists has facilitated hundreds of GSA Schedule awards. EZGSA’s mission is to assist commercial enterprises in making your products and services more accessible to government buyers and the federal marketplace in general via the GSA Schedule.

About the GSA:
As the federal government’s workplace solutions provider, the U.S. General Services Administration works to foster an effective, sustainable and transparent government for the American people. GSA’s expertise in government workplace solutions include:
• Effective management of government assets including more than 9,600 government-owned or leased buildings and 210,000 vehicles in the federal fleet, and preservation of historic federal properties;
• Leveraging the government’s buying power through responsible acquisition of products and services making up more than 11 percent of the government’s total procurement dollars;
• Providing innovative technology solutions to enhance government efficiency and increase citizen engagement; and,
• Promoting responsible use of federal resources through development of government-wide policies ranging from federal travel to property and management practices.

By Paul M. Barrett

 

Illusration by Emily Keegin & Maayan Pearl

The Fisk Generating Station in the working-class Pilsen neighborhood on Chicago’s Lower West Side once symbolized the future. The largest of its kind when it opened, the single-stack, coal-fired plant powered factories and residences throughout a growing metropolis.

That was in 1903. Today, Fisk and its slightly younger sister, the Crawford Generating Station, located nearby in another densely packed area, are relics: two of the more than 200 “legacy” coal-burning plants nationwide that were grandfathered in under 1977 amendments to the Clean Air Act. As a result of legislative compromise, these aging plants remain exempt from some of the act’s main requirements that industrial facilities use modern pollution control methods.

Living in Pilsen provides a time-travel experience to an era when the air in American cities was grittier and more dangerous. “Around here, you get this thin gray film of dust on your windowpane and on the patio furniture,” says Jerry Mead-Lucero, a local activist who lives near Fisk. “A lot of people don’t have air conditioning, so the windows are open in the warm weather, and dust gets into your home or apartment.”

And your lungs. Fine particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxide emitted by the Fisk and Crawford plants exacerbate respiratory and cardiac conditions, according to public health advocates. A study led by a Harvard School of Public Health professor and published in 2002 in the journalAtmospheric Environment linked the two Chicago plants to 41 premature deaths a year, as well as 550 emergency room visits. As if that weren’t enough, Mead-Lucero points out, electricity from Fisk doesn’t even go to local residents; the grid sends it to customers elsewhere.

Lawmakers gave Fisk, Crawford, and their ilk a Clean Air Act pass based on the expectation that the old plants would soon close anyway because of decrepitude and inefficiency. The act requires that if such plants are modernized, their owners have to bring them up to code. Congress didn’t anticipate that some power companies would forgo modernization. “A lot of utilities have used chewing gum, duct tape, and rubber bands to keep the old plants running, while arguing in court that the changes are merely ‘routine maintenance,’” says Henry Henderson, Midwest program director of the Natural Resources Defense Council. The nonprofit NRDC has sued—so far unsuccessfully—to try to force Fisk and Crawford to clean up or shut down.

The plants’ owner, Midwest Generation, a unit of Rosemead (Calif.)-based Edison International (EIX), says that it cares about the environment and public health. It also says it obeys the Clean Air Act and all other relevant laws. Over the years the company has reduced the release of mercury and certain other contaminants, adds Douglas McFarlan, Midwest Generation’s senior vice-president for public affairs. “We have no problem with the rules continuing to get tougher and tougher,” he says. “Our analysis shows, though, that even if our plants closed, you would not see a real difference in Chicago. There are a lot of sources of pollution, and you have to look at the situation holistically.”

The confounding problem of Chicago’s antiquated power plants is more than a local concern. The situation sheds light on a debate unfolding 700 miles away in Washington over whether to step up enforcement of the Clean Air Act or slip back in the direction of Pilsen.

At least 19 Republican-sponsored bills have been introduced in both houses of Congress seeking to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from taking actions such as limiting emission of climate-warming greenhouse gases and imposing tougher rules for ground-level pollutants such as mercury. Republicans and their industry allies warn that assertive regulation will hurt energy providers like Midwest Generation, killing jobs in a fragile economy. “Left unchecked, EPA’s actions would have a devastating impact on jobs, U.S. competitiveness, and domestic energy prices,” Representative Fred Upton (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said on Apr. 7 after the House passed legislation he wrote forbidding the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.

Democrats and environmentalists, who vow to stop the Senate version of Upton’s bill, say that the act not only protects human health but actually strengthens the economy and more than pays for itself.

So, which is it?

The Clean Air Act, originally enacted in 1970, has been around long enough to allow for heavy-duty number crunching. By sharply reducing pollution from cars, factory smokestacks, and power plants, the law has saved thousands of lives a year and reduced the prevalence of asthma, emphysema, and heart disease, according to a pair of congressionally mandated EPA cost-benefit studies issued in October 1997 and this past March. The gains are not free; the EPA estimates that in 2010 compliance with the Clean Air Act required industry expenditures of $53 billion. Monetizing the corresponding benefits—things like extending life spans and avoiding hospital stays and sick days from work—produces a figure of $1.3 trillion. By the government’s measure, therefore, the act’s benefits exceed its costs by a factor of 25 to 1.

“The economic case is pretty convincing,” says William K. Reilly, a senior adviser to the private equity firm TPG Capital. Reilly, a Republican who headed the EPA during the George H.W. Bush Administration and co-chaired President Barack Obama’s commission on the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, points out an additional byproduct of the Clean Air Act: the growth of the environmental technology industry. Cleantech, comprised mostly of small businesses, generated $282 billion in revenue and supported 1.6 million American jobs in 2007, according to the EPA.

Environmentalism is not pain-free, nor are the politics around it simple. In mid-May, a labor union that normally backs the Obama Administration announced that it would join with industry giant American Electric Power (AEP) to lobby Congress to delay the EPA’s planned imposition later this year of stringent new rules restricting emissions of mercury, lead, arsenic, and acid gases by coal-fired power plants. The facilities that would be affected emit some 386,000 tons of toxic air pollution a year. That makes them the country’s largest industrial source of such contamination. Exposure to these pollutants can cause birth defects, as well as lung and heart illnesses.

Edwin D. Hill, president of the 725,000-member International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, appreciates the hazards, but said in a May 16 statement that unless utilities were given an extra five or six years to modernize or close their oldest coal plants, about 50,000 workers in power, mining, and railroads would lose their jobs. The EPA concedes that its forthcoming mercury and air toxins rule (which the agency is under court order to issue) would cost industry nearly $11 billion a year in estimated compliance expenditures. Utilities, unsurprisingly, warn that the cost figure would be much higher. On the other side of the ledger, the EPA has estimated that the monetized value of health benefits from reduced mercury and other air toxins would far exceed expenditures.

All of which brings us back to Chicago’s Fisk and Crawford power stations. Aggressive EPA action—on either greenhouse gases or mercury and more terrestrial pollutants—would present owner Midwest Generation with a dilemma: Are the antiquated plants worth expensive upgrades, as opposed to just shutting them down? The facilities directly employ a total of 200 people.

“We think we are well-positioned to comply with what the EPA is prepared to do on mercury,” says McFarlan, the company spokesman. Beyond that, however, Midwest Generation has “not made final capital investment decisions.” Those jobs, in other words, could be in jeopardy.

“The employment question is real,” says the NRDC’s Henderson. “The question is whether we want to preserve ancient plants that are making people sick—and costing us money for hospital stays—or we want to get to work on training workers for the jobs of the future in cleaner energy production and renewables.”

That suggests an alternative to the traditional view of environmental enforcement as a cruel choice between employment and breathable air. The Clean Air Act can serve as a goad to generating better jobs in more innovative technologies—and as a mechanism to reduce health-care costs. The benefits seem worth the price.

Barrett is an assistant managing editor at Bloomberg Businessweek.

WESTPORT

Indoor air quality is one of the top health concerns in the country, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Gault Energy is helping to launch the “Breathe Easy” campaign to educate people about the health effects of indoor air pollution.
Gault, a Westport-based energy company, is teaming with WEBE 108 FM and Fairfield-based AtmosAir Solutions in the campaign.

Sam Gault, president of Gault Energy, was inspired to launch the campaign in response to his home’s own indoor air quality issues.
“I never thought twice about my home’s indoor air quality until my daughter developed asthma-related allergies caused by dust and mold,” he said. “Even though we did our best to eliminate the allergy triggers inside our home, she was still suffering. Soon after we installed an AtmosAir system in our home, we noticed our daughter’s symptoms improved and her asthma became easily regulated.”
AtmosAir’s bipolar ionization air cleaning technology is being used in a variety of public facilities, such as schools, hospitals, nursing homes and sports arenas. The Breathe Easy campaign offers guidance on how to eliminate or control indoor pollution sources such as mold, bacteria, germs, pollen, dust, pet dander, chemicals and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
The month-long campaign kicked off last week. As part of the campaign, the company is also offering a free AtmosAir system, valued at $2,000 installed, to one family. For the chance to win, register at www.webe108.com and submit a short essay in 500 words or less explaining why their family or a family they know deserves to win. Gault Energy will announce the winner on April 15.
AtmosAir’s patented bipolar ionization technology was developed nearly 100 years ago by Albert Einstein. When his sister became ill with Tuberculosis (TB), her doctors sent her to one of the many sanitariums located in the Swiss Alps to recover. Curious to know how the Swiss Mountain air was able to cure his sister so quickly, Einstein analyzed how the mountain air differed from that of the city. He discovered that the mountain air had a natural conductivity – a greater amount of electricity or ions – that naturally purified the air. This aha! moment led Einstein and a colleague to develop a machine that virtually duplicated Swiss mountain air.
“AtmosAir uses Einstein’s bipolar ionization process to remove airborne pollutants such as mold, bacteria, pollen, chemicals and odor-causing organic compounds from the air in your home,” says Steve Levine, CEO and president of AtmosAir Solutions. “By putting a little bit of Mother Nature back into your home, AtmosAir is able to remove 95 percent of these pollutants from the air you breath in just 30 minutes,” Steve Levine, CEO and president of AtmosAir Solutions, said. “And, the best part is, our Energy Star units require only 5 watts of power and cost less than 10 cents per day to operate.”
For more information, visit www.gaultenergy.com, www.gault-pbi.com, and www.atmosair.com