HEALTH ALERT: Chicago Ozone Crisis Enters a New Phase — Air Pollution Action Days Are Coming Earlier, Hitting Harder, and Exposing 9.4 Million Residents to Lung Damage

The greater Chicago metropolitan area was placed under an Air Quality Alert this week as the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency declared an Air Pollution Action Day, warning that ground-level ozone had reached concentrations classified as “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” — and was forecast to worsen into Wednesday.