The recent extreme heat and humidity has been especially difficult for Long Islanders with respiratory ailments to deal with.

Suffolk County has the worst ozone levels of any county in New York, according to the American Lung Association's Michael Seilback. As far as Nassau is concerned, Seilback says the county's air quality isn't even monitored.

Seilback blames car emission and other pollutants for the poor conditions.

"We are in this heat wave and those chemicals and pollutants are cooking up in the atmosphere creating ozone gas, which is a major lung irritant," he says.