Health Effects

Ozone in the air we breathe can harm our health—typically on hot, sunny days when ozone can reach unhealthy levels. Even relatively low levels of ozone can cause health effects.  Children, people with lung disease, older adults, and people who are active outdoors, including outdoor workers, may be particularly sensitive to ozone. 

Children are at greatest risk from exposure to ozone because their lungs are still developing and they are more likely to be active outdoors when ozone levels are high, which increases their exposure.  Children are also more likely than adults to have asthma.

Breathing ozone can trigger a variety of health problems including chest pain, coughing, throat irritation, and congestion. It can worsen bronchitis, emphysema, and asthma. Ground level ozone also can reduce lung function and inflame the linings of the lungs. Repeated exposure may permanently scar lung tissue.

Ozone can:

• Make it more difficult to breathe deeply and vigorously.
• Cause shortness of breath and pain when taking a deep breath.
• Cause coughing and sore or scratchy throat.
• Inflame and damage the airways.
• Aggravate lung diseases such as asthma, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis.
• Increase the frequency of asthma attacks.
• Make the lungs more susceptible to infection.
• Continue to damage the lungs even when the symptoms have disappeared.

These effects may lead to increased school absences, medication use, visits to doctors and emergency rooms, and hospital admissions. Research also indicates that ozone exposure may increase the risk of premature death from heart or lung disease.

Ozone is particularly likely to reach unhealthy levels on hot sunny days in urban environments. It is a major part of urban smog.  Ozone can also be transported long distances by wind.  For this reason, even rural areas can experience high ozone levels.  And, in some cases, ozone can occur throughout the year in some southern and mountain regions. Learn more about the formation and transport of ground level ozone.

The AirNow Web site provides daily air quality reports for many areas. These reports use the Air Quality Index (or AQI) to tell you how clean or polluted the air is. EnviroFlash, a free service, can alert you via email when your local air quality is a concern. Sign up at www.enviroflash.info.

If you’re a health care provider, visit AirNow’s Health Care Provider page for educational materials and trainings.

For more information on how EPA works to reduce ground level ozone, visit the Ozone Standards page.

For more information on ground level ozone, health and the environment, visit:

• Ozone and Your Health (PDF) (2 pp, 2.5 MB) This short, colorful pamphlet tells who is at risk from exposure to ozone, what health effects are caused by ozone, and simple measures that can be taken to reduce health risk.
• Ozone: Good Up High, Bad Nearby (PDF) (2 pp, 1.3 MB) Ozone acts as a protective layer high above the earth, but it can be harmful to breathe. This publication provides basic information about ground level and high-altitude ozone.
• EPA’s Air Quality Guide for Ozone Provides detailed information about what the Air Quality Index means.  Helps determine ways to protect your family's health when ozone levels reach the unhealthy range, and ways you can help reduce ozone air pollution.
• Ozone and Your Patients' Health Training for Health Care Providers Designed for family practice doctors, pediatricians, nurse practitioners, asthma educators, and other medical professionals who counsel patients about asthma and respiratory symptoms.
• AirNow Health Providers Information Provides information on how to help patients protect their health by reducing their exposure to air pollution.
• EPA’s Asthma Web Site EPA's Communities in Action Asthma Initiative is a coordinated effort to reduce the burden of asthma and includes programs to address indoor and outdoor environments that cause, trigger or exacerbate asthma symptoms.
• Smog - Who Does it Hurt? (PDF) (10 pp, 819 KB) This 8-page booklet provides more detailed information than "Ozone and Your Health" about ozone health effects and how to avoid them.
• Summertime Safety: Keeping Kids Safe from Sun and Smog (PDF) (2 pp, 314 KB) This document discusses summer health hazards that pertain particularly to children and includes information about EPA's Air Quality Index and UV Index tools.