Improving air quality part of Earth Day message in First State

The Air Quality Partnership of Delaware used Tuesday's Earth Day celebration on Wilmington’s Rodney Square to highlight next week’s Air Quality Awareness Week.

From April 28th to May 3rd, the partnership will concentrate on educating Delawareans about air quality issues, and what they can do to minimize pollutants.

American Lung Association president Deborah Brown says being aware of the impact air quality has on those with respiratory issues is a good place to start.

[caption id="attachment_60778" align="alignright" width="300"]https://www.wdde.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/earth-day-2014-2-300x184.jpg The Air Quality Partnership of Delaware unveiled the design for their new life-sized mascot Tropo who will help educate kids and adults about ways to improve air quality.[/caption]

"Ozone, when you're breathing it in, its almost like a sunburn in your lungs. And so we really need to make sure that we're protecting them, and we need to make sure that children - who breathe a little bit more deeply and rapidly than the rest of us - are protected and able to breathe healthy air as well," said Brown.

DNREC Secretary Collin O’Mara says Delaware faces a challenge in keeping its air clean because air quality here is hurt when neighboring state's don't do their part.

“Up to 95% of our pollution on the worst ozone days is coming from out of state sources. And so anything that we can do to further reduce emissions in Delaware is good, but at the end of the day we need other states to clean up their act and take the same actions we’ve already taken.”

O’Mara adds he hopes legal challenges DNREC has made to lower out-of state emissions help address the issue soon.

[caption id="attachment_60779" align="alignright" width="300"]https://www.wdde.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/earth-day-2014-3-300x184.jpg Volunteers from the Delaware Nature Society gave out free native plant seedlings to people who attended the Rodney Square Earth Day festivities in Wilmington Tuesday.[/caption]

Brown adds that while out-of-state emissions are an issue, there are still steps First State residents can take to help. She encourages driving less and using public transit or carpooling to reduce pollutants that contribute to ground-level ozone, which occurs at levels classified as "unhealthy" in the state.

The Air Quality Partnership says if every adult Delawarean walked or biked just one day during the week rather than drive - it could reduce air pollution by almost 15 million pounds.

For more on Air Quality Awareness week - you can visit the partnership's website

For more on ozone season and air-quality monitoring stations around Delaware can be found at DNREC's website.