Posted on: Friday, January 7, 2005

Fireworks smoke worse than 2000

By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

It's official: air quality on O'ahu early New Year's Day was worse than even the 2000 millennium celebration, and the worst place for a person trying to breathe was in Pearl City.

The increased nastiness was because of heavy fireworks use during a spate of uncooperative weather, said Wilfred Nagamine, clean air branch chief for the Department of Health.

"We didn't get the rains that were forecast or the high winds I was looking forward to," Nagamine said.

The wind and rain would have cleaned the air, he said. Instead, the smoke lingered beneath still, heavy skies.

The American Lung Association had advised people with breathing difficulties to stay indoors and run air conditioning throughout the hours fireworks were being used.

Nonetheless, three people suffering severe respiratory problems were treated in O'ahu emergency rooms, said Dan Galanis of the Health Department's injury prevention program.

The Pearl City area averaged 195 micrograms of particulate matter per cubic meter of air throughout the day on Jan. 1, exceeding the state and federal air quality standard of 150 micrograms over a 24-hour period. The levels beat the Pearl City average of 164 micrograms on Jan. 1, 2000, Nagamine said.

Pearl City measures are taken by a monitor at 860 4th St., and the worst came at 1 a.m. the first day of this year, showing 1,521 micrograms of particulate matter.

Light winds started to stir in the hours just before dawn New Year's Day — as fireworks use began to lessen — and air quality started to improve. Smoke cleared gradually throughout the day and by midnight on Jan. 2, the air in Pearl City contained only 30 micrograms of particulate matter.

Particulate matter in Liliha reached 1,354 micrograms at 1 a.m. and Honolulu hit a high of 832 micrograms at the same time.

Reach Karen Blakeman at 535-2430 or kblakeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.