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Colorado’s summer ozone season officially began Friday, bringing a string of days when smog blankets the Front Range and people may experience trouble breathing.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment sends daily air quality notifications via email to those who register at colorado.gov/airquality/request_alerts.aspx during ozone season. Subscribers receive emails so they can know whether or not ozone pollution levels are above federal air quality standards.
The department also posts daily air quality reports on its website at colorado.gov/airquality.
The summer ozone season runs from May 31 to Aug. 31.
When ozone pollution exceeds healthy levels, people with asthma and other breathing problems should adjust their outdoor plans. Everyone is advised to reduce activities that contribute to air pollution such as driving or mowing lawns with gas-powered equipment on those high-pollution days.
Even before the season began, the region already recorded ozone action day alerts, with the most recent occurring on Tuesday, when pollution levels became unhealthy for people who suffer from asthma and other lung diseases.
Ozone pollution is created on hot summer days when nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds combine, forming a dirty smog that is harmful to humans and ruins prized mountain views across the Front Range. Those pollutants are created by cars and trucks on the roads, power plants, refineries, chemical plants and industrial boilers.
Metro Denver and the notthern Front Range are in severe violation of national air quality standards. On Saturday, gas stations in Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson, Larimer and Weld counties must start selling a cleaner — and more expensive — form of gasoline because of a federal mandate.
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