ATLANTA – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently awarded a $246,829 grants to Hillsborough County, Florida to support their ongoing program to protect air quality so that it achieves established ambient air standards and protects human health in Hillsborough County. The program includes ambient air monitoring and various other activities to reduce or control air pollutants such as ozone, particulate matter, regional haze, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and mercury.
“A fundamental part of EPA’s ‘back-to-basics agenda’ is strengthening our state and local partnerships. Grants like this are an example of how we can work together with states and municipalities to make significant investments and progress in cleaning up the air,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.
"With heart disease being the leading cause of death in the U.S. and Florida, and as someone who was born with a heart defect, finding ways to lower the risks of heart disease and defects is important to me and especially those I represent,” said U.S. Representative Dennis Ross (FL-15). “I am happy to see the EPA, under the leadership of Administrator Pruitt, partnering with Hillsborough County in efforts to lower these risks though air quality solutions that allow local governments to manage important decisions and programs that affect their communities."
Air pollution can affect heart health and even trigger heart attacks and strokes. That’s important information for the one in three Americans who have heart disease, and for the people who love them. In a recent study in Environmental Research, EPA scientists looked at data from NASA satellites and EPA ground-based air monitors, and confirmed that heart disease and heart attacks are more likely for individuals who live in places with higher air pollution. The study found that exposure to even small additional amounts of fine particle pollution averaged over a year could increase a person’s odds of a heart attack by up to 14 percent.
For more than forty years, the Clean Air Act has cut pollution as the U.S. economy has grown. It has also lowered levels of six common pollutants -- particles, ozone, lead, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide -- as well as numerous toxic pollutants. The progress of the Act reflects efforts by state, local and tribal governments; EPA; private sector companies; environmental groups and others.
To learn more about EPA Air Quality programs, visit: https://www3.epa.gov/airquality/
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