If We Adopted Scientifically Recommended Ozone Standards...

In August, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee recommended the agency consider lowering the ozone pollution to 55 parts per billion, measured over an 8-hour period, to fully protect human health.

The health standard currently in place is 80 parts per billion, which the Denver metro area has exceeded 66 times so far this year. If the health standard was 55 parts per billion, the Denver area would have exceeded the standard 1,321 times. The table below shows how many times peak 8-hour ozone levels met or exceeded 55 parts per billion as of September 26 at monitors in the Denver area:

Monitoring Station	# Times 8-hour Ozone Met or Exceeded 55 ppb
Welby	61
Highland	129
South Boulder Creek	124
CAMP	18
Carriage	82
Chatfield State Park	138
Arvada	114
Welch	102
Rocky Flats North	142
NREL	124
Ft. Collins West	84
Ft. Collins	75
Greeley	128

From the standpoint of our health, we have a ways to go before we can say our air is clean.