Smog panel told of lung risks

Tuesday, May 12, 1998 | 9:52 a.m.

Las Vegas respiratory therapist Peggy Alby sees firsthand the effects of air pollution on some of the 500,000 local residents a year suffering from lung diseases.

Alby asked health officials Monday to protect senior citizens and children by reducing carbon monoxide coming from motor-vehicle exhaust and dust particles during a workshop dealing with wintertime smog problems.

Almost half of Southern Nevada's population suffer from lung diseases that air pollution aggravates, Alby said, referring to American Lung Association statistics. Southern Nevada is considered by the federal Environmental Protection Agency to be an area with serious pollution problems caused by carbon monoxide and dust.

Three of every five residents suffer from bronchitis, pneumonia and other lung ailments brought on by influenza and other diseases.

Another 50,000 residents have been diagnosed with chronic lung problems. Of Las Vegas adults, 35,000 suffer from asthma while 16,000 children have the disease that causes shortness of breath and can turn deadly without medical attention.

The Clark County Health District is considering new rules to bring cleaner gasoline to the valley year round. At its second workshop Monday at McCarran International Airport officials concentrated on winter pollution created by auto exhaust.

Some asked the county to gather more scientific information and to check population growth forecasts before converting to fuels that Southern California uses to reduce its air pollution.

Bob Dulla of Sierra Research Institute, a consulting firm hired by the Western States Petroleum Association, said Clark County's projected growth rate of 8.6 percent a year through the year 2002 is too high. He predicts a 4 percent annual population increase and declining levels of carbon monoxide without doing anything further to improve the valley's air quality.

Clark County officials will examine population predictions on June 9 at the third clean air workshop, said Michael Naylor, the Health District's director of the Air Pollution Control Division.

The county has to change its pollution control plan by Jan. 1 to clear the valley's air of carbon monoxide, explained Clete Kus of the county's Comprehensive Planning Division. "If growth stopped today, we would still need to reduce the levels of carbon monoxide by 10 to 13 percent," he said.

Citizen Alert Executive Director Rick Nielsen urged the county to take a comprehensive approach to solving the valley's air pollution problems.

"Citizen Alert will support reformulated fuel if it doesn't introduce anything new into the air and water," Nielsen said.