Erie’s air ranks among cleanest in nation

Erie, Pa. ( WJET/WFXP ) — According to a study release by the American Lung Association (ASA) the Erie-Meadville Metro is one of the top-ranking metropolitan regions for ozone and short-term particle pollution.

That’s information released in the 25th annual “ State of the Air ” report conducted by the ASA. The study looks at two of the most widespread and dangerous pollutants, fine particulate matter and ozone. These two pollutants are just two of six that have health-based limits as set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a requirement of the Clean Air Act. The other pollutants that the EPA monitors are nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and lead.

In Pennsylvania, Erie ranked #1 having 0 high ozone days and 0 high particle pollution days from 2020 – 2022. However, since the Erie Metro area did not have complete data for the year-round average level of particulate pollution it could not be included among the nation’s cleanest cities for all three measures.

But two cities in Pennsylvania are in the top 10 for the worst regions in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Pittsburgh-New Castle-Weirton metro area received a failing grade for both measures, making it rank in the top 25 worst cities in the U.S. for year-round particle pollution and the 3rd worst in the Mid-Atlantic for ozone smog.

Harrisburg-York-Lebanon metro areas tied it’s best ever record from last year’s report for ozone smog, but still earned a grade of a D making it the 3rd worst in the Mid-Atlantic Region. However, year-round particle pollution continues to worsen earning a failing grade and placing the area as second worst in the Mid-Atlantic.

In the 25 years that the American Lung Association has been doing our ‘State of the Air’ report, we have seen incredible improvement in the nation’s air quality. Unfortunately, more than 131 million people still live in places with unhealthy levels of air pollution, and the nation still has work to do. Climate change is making air pollution more likely to form and more difficult to clean up, so there are actions we can and must take to improve air quality in Pennsylvania, including adopting zero-emission standards for passenger vehicles and heavy-duty trucks. We are also calling on EPA to set long-overdue stronger national limits on ozone pollution.

Aimee VanCleave, Director of Advocacy for the American Lung Association

National Rankings:

Bringing the report out to a national view, the top 5 most polluted cities by year-round particle pollution include:

1. San Bernardino, California.
2. Riverside, California.
3. Los Angeles, California.
4. Tulare, California.
5. Kern, California.

The top 5 cleanest cities by year-round particle pollution include:

1. Urban Honolulu, Hawaii.
2. Casper, Wyoming.
3. Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, Hawaii.
4. Wilmington, North Carolina.
5. Bangor, Maine.

Key Findings:

The study displayed that despite the decades of working to improve air quality, out of the nearly 263 million people inside the measurable areas, 39% of Americans — 131.2 million people — still live in places with unhealthy levels of either ozone or particulate pollution. Not only that but around 65 million people live in counties with failing grades for daily particle pollution. One hundred million people — or three in 10 people — live in counties with failing grades for ozone smog.

The report also showed that people of color are 2.3 times as likely as white people to live in a county with 3 failing grades.

How Many At-Risk Groups Are Affected?

According to the report, of the 131.2 million people who are living in places with failing grades millions are classified as being in a high-risk population.

• About 68.9 million people of color live in counties that received at least one failing grade, and over 27.5 million people of color live in counties that failed all three measures.
• Sixteen million people who are classified as being placed below the federal poverty line live in counties that failed at least one measure, and 5.7 million live in counties that failed all three measures.
• More than 29.2 million children under the age of 18 and 20.6 million adults over the age of 65 live in counties that received at least one failing measure. More than 9.7 million children and more than 6.7 million seniors live in counties failing all three measures.

Health Impact of Air Pollution

Years of research have established a connection between increased air pollution and adverse health effects in every stage of life, with increased risk for high-risk groups including anyone 65 years or older, children, people with existing lung diseases, pregnant people, cardiovascular disease and people who work or exercise outside.

Long-term exposure to air pollutions can lead to lasting damage to respiratory health which can include developing asthma, increased fatal and infant mortality, higher likelihood to develop diabetes and lung cancer, and even impaired cognitive functioning.

What is Being Done?

The Federal Government has made major progress in the past few years in addressing the problem of air pollution, and have tackled many problems and are currently working on improvements but there is still room for improvement according to the ASA. This includes setting stronger national standards for ozone, cleaning up power plant pollution and defending the Clean Air Act.

They are also calling on states to take action in helping reduce air pollution by implementing the EPA’s new clear air protections, prioritizing clean energy production and adopting the California zero-emissions standards for cars and trucks.

You can also make a difference and keep yourself safe by checking daily air pollution forecasts at airnow.gov , reducing contributions to air pollution and showing up and taking action in your community.

The American Lung Association launched the annual “State of the Air” report in 2000 to provide the public with easy-to-understand information about the quality of their air.

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