Expert: Don't exercise in bad air

Published: May 26, 2008 at 3:05 PM
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A passenger train departs Beijing's central train station at the end of a weekend dominated by unusually high temperatures and heavy pollution, on July 08, 2007. The state environmental protection agency (EPA) recorded in June over 850 particles of particulate matter per square meter in Beijing, eight times the norm.  The EPA said such measurements were a "serious concern."  (UPI Photo/Stephen Shaver)
A passenger train departs Beijing's central train station at the end of a weekend dominated by unusually high temperatures and heavy pollution, on July 08, 2007. The state environmental protection agency (EPA) recorded in June over 850 particles of particulate matter per square meter in Beijing, eight times the norm. The EPA said such measurements were a "serious concern." (UPI Photo/Stephen Shaver) | Enlarge Enlarge
DALLAS, May 26 (UPI) -- Swimsuit season is around the corner, but a U.S. allergist suggests checking air conditions before heading outside to work off winter's pounds.

Dr. David Khan, an allergist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, recommends exercising indoors on days ozone smog is high. Running on a treadmill or power walking in a shopping mall are two options.

"Ozone smog can cause asthma attacks, coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath and chest pain when inhaled deeply," Khan says in a statement. "People most sensitive to ozone smog are children, the elderly, people with asthma and other lung diseases and healthy people who work or exercise outdoors."

For those who must be outside, Khan suggests avoiding high traffic areas and heading out in the early morning. Levels of ozone smog are lowest in the morning around sunrise.

As traffic emissions and sunlight increase, so do smog levels, Khan says.

Ground-level ozone, the main ingredient of urban smog, is an air pollutant with harmful effects on the respiratory systems of animals.

Daily air quality -- by state -- is available at the government Web site http://airnow.gov.


© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.



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