Days With Maximum 8-Hour Average Ozone Concentration Over the National Ambient Air Quality Standard: Annual Number of Days by County (Where Monitors Exist),
Indicator Report Data View Options
Why Is This Important?
Air pollution has been associated with premature death; increased rates of hospitalization for respiratory and cardiovascular conditions; adverse birth outcomes; and lung cancer (Cannon 1990, Dockery and Pope 1994, Schwartz 1999). Increased temperatures resulting from climate change combined with emissions from burning fossil fuels lead to more ozone pollution. This increase in ozone aggravates asthma and may exacerbate cardiovascular, metabolic, nervous system, and reproductive outcomes and cost an estimated $7.9 billion (2020 dollars) in annual health costs (De Alwis and Limaye, 2021). Despite progress on reducing air pollution, more than 40% of the U.S. population (over 135 million Americans) live in counties with unhealthy air in the form of either ozone or particulate matter (American Lung Association, 2021). The burden of living in places with unhealthy air is not evenly distributed across the country: economically disadvantaged groups, some communities of color, immigrant groups, Indigenous people, children and pregnant persons, older adults, outdoor workers, persons with disabilities, and persons with chronic medical conditions are at higher risk of illness or death from breathing in unclean air (American Lung Association, 2021 and De Alwis and Limaye, 2021). This imbalance is the result of many factors, including the absence of affordable healthcare, systemic racism, historical inequitable land use, workplace risks, and the location of many polluting facilities in economically disadvantaged areas.
Definition
Annual number of days with maximum 8-hour average ozone concentration over the National Ambient Air Quality Standard of 0.070 ppm.
Data Notes
Data for years 2010-2022. For clarity, we removed counties that did not have functional air monitors over this time period.Data Sources
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Air Quality System Monitoring Data, State Air Monitoring Data.
(https://aqs.epa.gov/aqsweb/airdata/download_files.html) - New Mexico Population Estimates: University of New Mexico, Geospatial and Population Studies (GPS) Program.
(http://gps.unm.edu/)
How the Measure is Calculated
Numerator:
Number of days exceeding the National Ambient Air Quality Standard of 0.070 ppm for ozone.Denominator:
Not applicable.
Data Issues
EPA Air Quality System Monitoring Data
In the Data List and Data Table, a period (.) designates missing data. The reason for the missing data will be indicated in the same row of the Data List. The term "Insufficient Data" means monitors were not running the entire year. The term "No Monitor" means either there was no monitoring equipment in the area, or the monitoring equipment was not operating.
New Mexico Population Estimates
All population estimates apply to July 1 of the selected year. These estimates are considered the most accurate estimates for the state of New Mexico and should match those found on the University of New Mexico Geospatial and Population Studies website. Estimates include decimal fractions. Census tract population estimates were summed to produce County and Small Area population estimates. Population estimate totals may vary due to rounding. Population estimates for previous years are occasionally revised as new information becomes available. When publishing trend data, always be sure that your rates for earlier years match current rates on NM-IBIS that have been calculated with the most up-to-date population estimates.