Who is most at risk from ozone pollution?
Scientific studies indicate that the following groups are at particular risk from ozone air pollution. • Children at play outdoors. They represent the largest group at high risk from air pollution. In California, there are six million children under the age of fourteen. Ninety percent of them live in areas that fail to meet state and federal air quality standards. In Southern California, there are more than 2.5 million pre-adolescent children breathing highly polluted air. Children may be at greater risk because, for their body size, they inhale several times more air than adults. They also spend relatively more time outdoors playing hard and breathing heavily through their mouths. As a result, pollution is more likely to come into direct contact with their respiratory systems. • People with existing lung disease. (including chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and asthma). Since they already suffer from reduced ability to breathe, these individuals are often greatly affected by the increase
