Despite Efforts, Clean Air Elusive

Smog Has Decreased but Still Stifles Area

Smoggy, sooty, unhealthy air returned to settle over the Washington area this week, setting off Code Orange pollution alerts and signaling that -- even after decades of cleanup efforts -- summertime here can still mean irritants in every breath.

As hot, still weather held the region's haze in place, monitors around the region picked up potentially harmful levels of smog Wednesday and Thursday. Another smoggy day was predicted yesterday, but pollution levels receded slightly before the end of the day.

All week, monitors picked up "moderate" levels of another type of pollution, which includes specks of soot much thinner than a human hair. These particles have been shown to work their way deep into lungs and might cross into the bloodstream. Researchers say they don't belong in either place.

The region's air is far cleaner than it was in the 1980s and 1990s. But -- as this stifling week showed -- the pollution can still be so serious it violates federal standards and threatens those in poor health.

"Compared to 20 years ago, the air is cleaner. But it is still far from clean enough to say it's healthful to breathe," said Frank O'Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch, an environmental group based in Washington. "People in the Washington area are breathing dirty air on far too many days."

Wednesday and Thursday were declared Code Orange days after high pollution readings in spots ranging from Ashburn to Beltsville to Frederick. The Code Orange designation means that children, people in poor health and those with respiratory problems should limit their time outside. Pollution triggered a similar alert last Saturday.

This week's bad air was caused by a turn in the weather. A high-pressure system stilled the winds close to the ground so that exhaust and smoke produced in the region stayed here. Winds in the upper atmosphere blew in from the west, bringing extra pollution from power plants in the Ohio River Valley.

Then the sun came out and stayed out. That set off the chemical reactions that cook the grimy mix into pollutants harmful to human health.

"The weather we've had in the past week is set up to maximize" the effects of pollution, said William F. Ryan, a meteorologist at Penn State who has studied Washington's air quality. These conditions had eased by yesterday afternoon, and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments forecast a Code Yellow, or "moderate" levels of pollution, this weekend.

The region's air this week never hit Code Red, when the air is considered a health risk to the general public. Still, its impact was felt: Washington Hospital Center noticed a slight uptick in patients with breathing problems. Runners brought extra water on their outdoor workouts or did not go outdoors at all. Nelda Strasser, 27, of Rosslyn said Thursday that she would run her daily miles on a treadmill instead.

"If I just stand out there and I start sweating" because of the pollution, Strasser said, "I know something's wrong."

And, at the height of the heat and pollution, even standing outside became a chore. Matthew Salgado, who was handing out menus for Heidi's Brooklyn Deli in downtown Washington on Thursday, stayed in a little pocket of street-corner shade.