US EPA

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promulgates the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) on the basis of scientific information contained in air quality criteria issued under Section 108 of the Clean Air Act. The previous ozone (03) criteria document, Air Quality Criteria for Ozone and Other Photochemical Oxidants, was released in August 1986 and a supplement, Summary of Selected New Information on Effects of Ozone on Health and Vegetation, was released in January 1992. These documents were the basis for a March 1993 decision by EPA that revision of the existing l-h NAAQS for 03 was not appropriate at that time. That decision, however, did not take into account some of the newer scientific data that became available after completion of the 1986 criteria document. The purpose of this revised air quality criteria document for 03 and related photochemical oxidants is to critically evaluate and assess the latest scientific data associated with exposure to the concentrations of these pollutants found in ambient air. Emphasis is placed on the presentation of health and environmental effects data; however, other scientific data are presented and evaluated in order to provide a better understanding of the nature, sources, distribution, measurement, and concentrations of 03 and related photochemical oxidants and their precursors in the environment. Although the document is not intended to be an exhaustive literature review, it is intended to cover all pertinent literature available through 1995.

The purpose of this document is to provide an assessment of the latest scientific informaiton on the effects of airborne particulate matter (PM) on the public health and welfare for use in EPA's current review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone.

U.S. EPA. AIR QUALITY CRITERIA FOR OZONE AND RELATED PHOTOCHEMICAL OXIDANTS (External Review Draft, 1995). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Center for Environmental Assessment, Washington Office, Washington, DC, EPA/600/P-93/004A, 1996.

There are five items to download or view: an Executive Summary and Volumes I-III. To save the Ozone document to your computer, download the three zip files listed below.

Volume I contains information on the environmental concentrations, patterns, and exposure estimates of tropospheric ozone and its precursors;

Volume II contains a discussion of the environmental effects of ozone, and

Volume III contains a discussion of the toxicological and human health effects of ozone, an extrapolation of animal toxicological data to humans, and an integrative summary of ozone health effects. Within each volume, highlight the desired chapter or section from the "Table of Contents" to access the text.