Exercising outside: Know the OZONE LEVEL

Click here for Houston's level
When the summer starts winding down more people move outside to exercise. Air pollution is much higher during the summer months and we have had several "Ozone Warning" lately.

It has long been known that high levels of ozone exposure are dangerous to health, and levels of ozone are monitored in most metropolitan areas. In 1979, the Federal Health Standard for "good air quality" was set at .12 parts of ozone per 1 million parts of air for one hour (abbreviated as ppm/hour). The Canadian level is set at .08 ppm/hour, and experts in the U.S. have seriously questioned the margin of safety provided by the national clean air standard.

• Avoid exercising during rush hours (the CO level peaks during rush hours).
• Avoid high cigarette smoking areas prior to and during exercise.• Avoid combinations of high temperature, humidity and air pollution.
• Keep the amount of time spent in high pollution areas to a minimum (physiological effects of air pollution are both time and dose dependent).
• Be aware of seasonal variations in ozone levels. The ozone level is usually low in winter, increases during summer with a daily peak around 3 p.m., and reaches maximal values in early autumn.