WASHINGTON (AP) -- Fourteen New York counties don't meet a new federal standard for ozone.

The Environmental Protection Agency announced the stricter ozone standard Wednesday. The agency says the air in hundreds of U.S. counties is simply too dirty to breathe.

In New York, the counties listed are Chautauqua, Erie, Essex, Niagara, Orange, Oswego, Putnam, Queens, Rensselaer, Richmond, Saratoga, Suffolk, Ulster and Westchester.

The new standard will lower the allowable concentration of ozone in the air to no more than 75 parts per billion, compared with the old standard of 80. But many health experts say the lower standard still falls short of what is needed to significantly reduce heart and asthma attacks.

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