Nearly 40% of Americans Are Breathing Unhealthy Air. Is Your Hometown on the List? 

• A new report from the American Lung Association says 131.2 million Americans live in areas with poor air quality
• That’s nearly 40% of Americans, a sharp increase from last year’s report
• The report used data on particulate pollution and ozone, which link unhealthy air quality to asthma, lung cancer, etc.

Nearly 40% of Americans breathe unhealthy air – putting them at risk for lung diseases like asthma and cancer.

According to the American Lung Association’s annual “State of the Air” report, 131.2 million Americans live in an area where the air can be classified as unhealthy. That’s 11.7 million more than in last year’s report, a “significant increase” in the number of people whose health is now at risk.

The organization looked at data on particulate matter and ozone pollution and found that 65 million people live in areas rated F for pollution.

For particle pollution, Bakersfield, Calif., tops the list, followed by Fresno-Madera-Hanford, Calif., which is approximately 82 miles away.

Fairbanks, Ala., Eugene-Springfield, Ore., and Visalia, Calif., rounded out the top five for particle pollution.

Stock image of Bakersfield, California.

AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian

As the report states, “Researchers estimate that [fine particles from burning wood or fossil fuels] is responsible for nearly 48,000 premature deaths in the United States each year.”

“Exposure to even low levels of fine particles can be fatal,” the report says, increasing the risk of severe asthma attacks as well as heart attacks and strokes.

Data has accumulated linking air quality to poor health outcomes, with the report stating, “More than 55,000 people diagnosed with lung cancer in 2020 live in counties rated F for at least one pollutant, and about 15,200 people diagnosed with with lung cancer lives in counties that do not meet all three measures.”

Some of the same California cities with the highest particle pollution also made the top five for ozone pollution.

Long Beach-Los Angeles tops the list, followed by Visalia, Bakersfield and Fresno-Madera-Hanford. Rounding out the top 5 is Phoenix-Mesa, Ariz.

“Exposure to unhealthy levels of ozone air pollution continues to make breathing difficult for more Americans across the country than any other pollutant,” the report said.

Picture of a woman using an asthma inhaler.

Getty

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Overall, the report found racial disparities in the population living in areas with unhealthy air compared to those in areas with better air quality.

“Although people of color make up 41.6% of the total US population, they make up 52% ​​of people living in a district with at least one failing grade,” the report said.

“In counties with the worst air quality that score poorly on all three measures of air pollution, 63% of the nearly 44 million residents are people of color, compared to 37% who are white.”

And people of color are 2.3 times more likely to live in an area with 3 poor air quality ratings.

The report also notes that there is a significant difference in air quality depending on which side of the Mississippi River you live, pointing to “policy-driven emissions reductions” versus climate change events that have caused poor air quality in the West.

The report states that “extreme heat, drought and wildfires are contributing to a steady increase in deadly particulate pollution, particularly in the western US.”

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As a result, “in this year’s report, only 4 large counties in three states east of the Mississippi River scored poorly for daily increases in fine particulate matter pollution, compared to 108 counties in 16 western states.”

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“The amount of pollution produced by the typical things you think about — cars, chimneys, power plants — the Clean Air Act has done a really good job of reducing that,” Katherine Pruitt, senior director of Nationwide Clean Air Policy at ALA, who worked on the new report, she said Health.

However, she added, “what hasn’t really changed are the greenhouse gases” that are “contributing to global climate change and starting to undo the improvements.” [we were seeing].”

“When we started doing ‘The State of the Air’ in 2000, I could not have imagined that in the 25th edition we would be reporting that more than 100 million people were still breathing unhealthy air,” said Paul Billings, national senior vice president, public policy, for the American Association for the lungs.

“That is unacceptable.”

Top 10 most polluted places in the US to live, by county

1. San Bernardino, California. 2. Riverside, California 3. Los Angeles 4. Tulare, California. 5. Kern, California.6. Fresno, California.7. Maricopa, Ariz.8. Jefferson, Colo.9. Placer, California.10. Douglas, Colo.

Click here for the full state of the air report — and to see where your hometown ranks on the list.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education