Clean Air Campaign partners gathered in Midtown Atlanta during the midpoint of Air Quality Awareness Week to earn their "MBA: Master's in Better Air."

The "Air We Breathe" seminar offered learning opportunities from air quality experts, covering health issues, regulatory progress and actionable ideas that can make a difference.  Here are some highlights from the event:

• According to Dr. Jeremy Sarnat, associate professor at the Emory Rollins School of Public Health, air quality issues have been present for centuries, as evidenced by hieroglyphics from Egypt that illustrate difficulty breathing and a Renaissance painting style that attempted to depict atmospheric pollution that can be seen in works like DaVinci's Mona Lisa.

• While respiratory issues have been the primary focus of scientific studies, new evidence suggests other systems are affected by exposure to polluted air, including the reproductive system, nervous system and circulatory system.  The more we learn about the harmful effects of air pollution, the more important it becomes to take action.

• Studies show that air quality can affect life expectancy.  A famous study examined ambient air pollution in six cities in the US over a period of 15 years and found differences in life expectancy based on concentrations of particle pollution.  A follow-up study also showed how coordinated changes actually brought improvements to life expectancy.

• Expressed in terms of costs relative to benefits, by the year 2020 the Clean Air Act could deliver a projected $2 trillion in health benefits at an implementation cost of $65 billion.

• Scott Davis, Air Planning Branch Chief for the US Environmental Protection Agency Region IV, discussed National Ambient Air Quality Standards designed to protect public health and welfare.

• Changes were announced by EPA this week related to ground-level ozone regulations.  With the implementation of the 2008 standard, fifteen Metro Atlanta counties were recommended for designation as a marginal non-attainment area based on data indicating ground-level ozone concentrations exceeded federal standards.

• Other regulatory decisions on the horizon could see a new standard announced for particle pollution in June, based on new evidence from the Clean Air Science Advisory Committee on public health and welfare impacts.

• Clean Air Campaign Executive Director Tedra Cheatham walked through actionable ways Georgians can limit their exposure to unhealthy air and reduce their contribution to air pollution problems. 

For more background on the air we breathe, including the science behind air quality and ideas on what you can do to protect yourself, visit the "Your Transportation and Air Quality" section of The Clean Air Campaign's website.

We’re still a few months away from the start of Smog Season in Georgia, the period from May through September when ground-level ozone is most likely to form. But there’s another lingering air pollution issue that affects our health year-round. Concentrations of fine particulate matter, known more broadly as “particle pollution,” are present in the air we breathe.

If you’ve ever been within sight of a smokestack or a tailpipe, you’ve no doubt seen that black plume of smoke spring forth and then dissipate. The process of combustion (burning something, whether it be gasoline, wood, coal, etc) produces small airborne fragments of dust, soot and chemicals – so small that they are invisible to the naked eye. Particle pollution can also occur in nature: think pollen in the springtime.

Fine particulate matter is so miniscule, it’s a mere fraction of the diameter of a human hair. At 2.5 micrometers in diameter, this visual (courtesy of the US Environmental Protection Agency) puts into perspective just how small particle pollution can be:

When these pollutants are present in high concentrations, what can they do to your health? For one, particle pollution can penetrate deep into your lungs, slipping past the body’s defenses and making it hard to breathe. This can trigger asthma attacks or even create situations where emergency medical attention is needed. Particle pollution can also irritate the eyes, nose and throat.

There are ways to curb particle pollution emissions. Coal-fired power plants are adding “scrubbers” at facilities to act as giant pipe cleaners that can reduce overall particle pollution output. Certain counties enact open burning bans that prohibit citizens from burning yard waste. Catalytic converters on buses, trucks, cars and vans help reduce output. And of course driving less helps, too.

But the big-picture challenge is to reduce energy consumption in a state that is among the nation’s fastest growing. How do we motivate people to change their habits when we’re talking about a problem that is invisible to the naked eye?