By Maria Hickey, KWMU
St. Louis – St. Louis residents can expect to see more air quality warning days this summer, but not necessarily because the air has gotten worse.
The Environmental Protection Agency toughened its air quality standards in March.
Susannah Fuchs with the American Lung Association of the Central States said that likely will mean more yellow, orange, and red alerts.
"It doesn't mean that the air quality has gotten worse, it means that the standard is stricter, so there's an orange or a red called more often because there's basically by law allowed to be less ozone pollution before an air quality alert is called," Fuchs said.
Fuchs said residents can help cut the number of alert days by carpooling and using less energy at home.
The American Lung Association gave the St. Louis City, St. Louis County, and St. Charles County "F's" in its recent air quality report card.