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A recent report from the American Lung Association (ALA) reveals that nearly half of all Americans are exposed to unhealthy air conditions. Released in conjunction with Earth Day, the annual “State of the Air” report highlights alarming statistics, indicating that approximately 44 percent of the U.S. population—equating to over 152 million people—reside in areas plagued by harmful ozone levels and particle pollution.
The report, which draws on data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), also features lists of the “cleanest” and “most polluted” cities in the United States based on their ozone and particle pollution levels.
This year, Bangor, Maine, stands out as the only city to excel in all three categories: ozone, short-term particle pollution, and year-round particle pollution. The ALA has described this as a “grim indication” of the overall decline in air quality across the nation.
In Bangor, no days were recorded with unhealthy ozone levels or short-term particle pollution. Impressively, the city ranks tenth among all U.S. cities for its consistently low levels of year-round particle pollution.
The city reported zero total days of unhealthy ozone levels and short-term particle pollution. It ranked number 10 among all cities for its low year-round particle pollution levels.
Bakersfield, Calif., maintained its ranking as one of the worst cities for air pollution in all three categories. The city, which is around 100 miles northeast of Santa Barbara, ranked first for having the worst year-round particle pollution and third for both harmful ozone and short-term particle pollution.
Other California cities like Los Angeles, Visalia, San Jose, Fresno, San Francisco, and San Diego ranked high in at least two of these categories. Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, New York City, and Denver all reported bad air pollution metrics.
You can find the full report and its rankings here.
Overall, the ALA report found some improvements across the nation in terms of particle pollution, but worsening impacts of ozone. Almost 4 million more people are breathing in unhealthy levels of ozone compared to last year’s report.
“This year’s report shows that air pollution results were mixed across the country and across pollutants, highlighting the complex nature of air pollution and the need for regional, state and local attention on pollution sources,” the ALA wrote in its key findings.
The report also found that communities of color are disproportionately affected by air pollution and have an increased likelihood of living with chronic health conditions that make them more vulnerable to this pollution.
“Although people of color make up 42.1% of the overall population of the U.S., they represent 54.2% of the people living in a county with at least one failing grade,” the ALA said in the report.
A person of color is over two times as likely as a white person to live somewhere with poor air pollution, while Latino people are over three times as likely, according to the ALA’s analysis.