The American Lung Association has released its 22nd annual State of the Air Report which found that 135 million people across the United States live with polluted air that is putting their health and lives at risk. That burden is not being shared equally and the research states that people of color are more than three times as likely to live in a county with polluted air than white people. Improvements in air quality have been seen in some parts of the country and 14.8 million fewer Americans are breathing unhealthy air compared to last year's report, primarily as a result of improved ozone pollution levels. Unfortunately, the threat of particulate matter air pollution is continuing to worsen every year, however, and close to 1.1 million people were found to be living in areas with unhealthy PM2.5 levels compared to the 2020 edition of the report.
Particulate matter can be deadly and it emanates from sources ranging from diesel engines and coal-fired power plants to wildfires and wood-burning stoves. Microscopic PM2.5 particles can result in a host of serious health issues including asthma attacks, heart attacks, strokes and the development of lung cancer. More recently, it has also been linked to worse outcomes in Covid-19 patients. Each year, the State of the Air Report ranks PM2.5 levels in U.S. cities across two categories - short-term particle pollution, or daily spikes, and year-round particle pollution. When it comes to the first category, some 54.4 million Americans have to cope with dangerous spikes in short term air pollution, mainly as a result of wildfire smoke and residential woodburning.
When it comes to the second category of year-round particle pollution, the report found that 20.9 million people live in U.S. counties with unhealthy air quality throughout the year. The findings are based on the National Air Quality standard for year-round particle pollution whereby counties below 12 were given "Pass" grades and those scoring above "Failed". Despite Bakersfield, California, making improvements in reducing its short-term PM2.5 levels, it was named the worst U.S. city for year-round particle pollution for the second year running. It was followed by Fresno-Madera-Hanford and Visalia, both of which are also in California. Poor air quality is a huge problem in California and the Golden State retained its historic distinction of having the worst performing cities in the report, home to 10 of the 25 most-polluted.
*Click below to enlarge (charted by Statista)
Cities with the highest year-round levels of particle pollution in the U.S. (2017-2019)
