Air Quality: It's Not Just a Big City Issue

Peachtree Corners and the entire metro area is entering the prime season when ozone levels increase and smog levels rise.

Ground-level ozone is a product of "cooking," a type of cooking far less enticing than the kind that can results in tasty foods. Instead, sunlight and warm temperatures “cook” compounds in the air, which react to form pollution that poses risks to our health and the environment. 

Where do these compounds — nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) — come from? 

Nitrogen oxides come primarily from combustion of fuels in cars and trucks, coal-fired power plants, industrial boilers and gas-powered engines such as lawnmowers and leaf blowers.

Volatile organic compounds are vapors from paint and print shops, gas stations, dry cleaners, lawn chemicals and from combustion engines, such as those in cars and trucks, boats and diesel locomotives. Trees also emit VOCs.

With its crazy levels of traffic, one might think Atlanta would be the cesspool for nasty pollutants, but ozone-forming pollution can be swept long distances by the wind before reacting in the sun. Peachtree Corners can be impacted by emission sources — those vehicles, coal-fired power plants and other sources — from hundreds of miles away. 

Click here to view today's air quality forecast for Peachtree Corners and the metro Atlanta area and check back with Patch regularly by using the "Search" box in the upper right corner — simply type in "today's air quality forecast," click the magnifying glass icon and, in the search results, click the article with that title. 

While ground-level ozone is a health and environmental concern, ozone in the stratosphere, which is six to 30 miles above Earth, is beneficial, shielding us from harmful ultraviolet radiation.

Did you know Gwinnett is one of 15 counties in Georgia classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a "nonattainment" areas? This means pollution levels are likely to exceed federal and state limits many days of the year.

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