Air quality in the United States has been worsening since 2016 and it’s killing people. While air quality had been improving since 2009, the trend reversed in 2016. Nearly 10,000 premature deaths have been attributed to the mere increase alone, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. As of 2019, more than 141 million Americans live in places with unhealthy levels of air pollution, according to the American Lung Association’s 2019 State of the Air report.
Kevin Loria in Business Insider, Sep 26, 2018, What air pollution does to your body and brain,
We have no choice but to breathe the air around us.
But the machines we use and policies that governments enact transform that air. Cars fill the air with the exhaust they pipe out, factories and power plants belch residue into the sky, and city apartment buildings pump out chemicals they use to heat and cool residences. In many places, trees that could help improve air quality have disappeared.
All of this has effects on human health, and some of these effects can be scary.
Bad air does more than just making it harder to breathe. It can change the way children’s brains develop and make older adults more likely to succumb to cognitive decline.
This is an urgent, global problem — 98% of cities with populations over 100,000 in low- and middle-income countries don’t meet the World Health Organization (WHO) air quality standards.
Even in the US, with relatively high standards for air quality, there’s evidence that people are breathing air that has a negative effect on their bodies and brains.
Here’s what air pollution does to your health, and why you should pay attention to the quality of the air around you.
Kids who are exposed to poor air early in life are more likely to develop asthma and struggle in school, and there are indications this early-life exposure may harm cognitive development.
Studies conducted in China and Canada show that kids who breathe poor air are more likely to have breathing difficulties and asthma. Research conducted on New York City schoolchildren shows that ones who breathe poor air are more likely to need academic intervention.
There are strong indications that air pollution affects kids before they are born if their pregnant mothers breathe polluted air.
Preterm birth and infant mortality rates rise in places where mothers are exposed to high levels of air pollution. Research presented in September indicates that when pregnant women breathe sooty air, pollution particles make their way into the placenta and may reach the baby.
Kids who breathe poor air do worse on academic tests.
Research conducted in California shows that reducing pollution levels in lower income schools would raise academic test scores in a small but significant way. Even indoor air quality has an effect — one study found that improving air quality in schools could significantly improve standardized test performance.
And these cognitive effects continue to build up throughout life, with elderly people who breathe bad air more likely to suffer from dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Research in the US shows that dementia and cognitive decline rates are higher in places with more air pollution, and these rates drop when air quality has been improved by enforcing EPA regulation. Research from China shows that the cognitive impairment associated with air pollution gets worse as people age, with a particularly strong effect on the verbal skills of less educated men.
There’s lots of data showing that poor air quality increases asthma and lung disease rates.
Older adults are more likely to end up in the ER on days with high levels of air pollution, and kids are more likely to need medical treatment for asthma symptoms.
There are also indications that people exposed to higher levels of air pollution are more likely to develop allergies.
This is especially the case in places with high levels of pollution from cars.
Air pollution from wildfire smoke kills around 15,000 people per year in the US, through heart disease, lung disease, asthma, and other respiratory problems.
As fires get worse, that number could top 40,000 per year by the end of the century, according to a study published in July.
Exposure to ozone pollution increases the rates of cardiovascular disease, including heart attacks.
Even short-term exposure to high levels of ozone, which is created when the sun heats up particles of pollutants, can increase rates for an irregular heartbeat. It also increases the risk for heart attacks, even for people without pre-existing heart disease.
Air pollution makes the health effects of heat waves far worse.
Since the hot summer sun turns particles like those emitted from cars into ozone, air pollution makes the effects of heat waves — already deadlier than earthquakes and hurricanes — even worse.
One 2008 study found that for every degree Celsius the temperature rises, ozone pollution can be expected to kill an additional 22,000 people around the world via respiratory illness, asthma, and emphysema.
Air pollution raises lung cancer rates.
Approximately 5% of lung and throat cancer deaths can be attributed to air pollution.
Air pollution has significant effects on life expectancy
On average, people lose about a year of life to air pollution, but this effect is much worse in some places than others. In China, bad air is associated with about a 3 year drop in life expectancy. In India, home to the 14 cities with the worst air pollution in the world, that’s a 4 year drop.
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California is home to 15 of the 30 places in the US with the worst air pollution
Hristina Byrnes, USA Today, 24/7 Wall Street, https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/12/09/the-30-most-polluted-places-in-america/40747999/
Air quality in the United States has been worsening over the last three years – and it’s killing people. While air quality had been improving since 2009, the trend reversed in 2016. Nearly 10,000 premature deaths have been attributed to the mere increase alone, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. As of 2019, more than 141 million Americans live in places with unhealthy levels of air pollution, according to the American Lung Association’s 2019 State of the Air report. This is significantly more than the 134 million people reported in 2018.
24/7 Tempo reviewed the 30 metropolitan areas with the highest levels of air pollution using data from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality Index. It takes into account the amount of carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, sulfur dioxide into the air, as well as the estimated concentration of PM2.5 and PM10, which stands for particulate matter smaller than 2.5 and 10 micrometers in diameter.
The 24-hour concentration of PM2.5, the most harmful type of air pollution, is considered unhealthy when it rises above 35.4 μg/m3. These fine particles are produced by burning fuel – car engines, factories, domestic heating – or by chemical reactions that take place in the atmosphere.
There are three major reasons that air pollution is getting worse in the United States, according to experts: booming economic activity, increases in wildfires, and more relaxed enforcement of clean air regulations.
Another harmful type of pollution is ground-level ozone. It forms when pollutants produced by cars, power plants, industrial boilers, and other sources react with sunlight. The hotter the days, the higher the levels of ozone pollution.
Whether from fine particles or ozone, air pollution can have serious health consequences. They range from effects such as asthma attacks from short-term exposure to pollutants to heart disease and lung cancer from long-term exposure.
Bad air quality isn’t a concern just in the U.S. An estimated 90% of the world’s population breathes dangerously polluted air – these are the 30 most polluted cities on Earth.
30. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA
• Days with high PM2.5 pollution a year: 191
• Days with unhealthy levels of air pollution a year: 2
• High ozone days per year: 130
• Population: 20,192,042
29. San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA
• Days with high PM2.5 pollution a year: 290
• Days with unhealthy levels of air pollution a year: 9
• High ozone days per year: 61
• Population: 4,641,820
28. Albuquerque, NM
• Days with high PM2.5 pollution a year: 51
• Days with unhealthy levels of air pollution a year: 1
• High ozone days per year: 259
• Population: 905,049
27. Chico, CA
• Days with high PM2.5 pollution a year: 161
• Days with unhealthy levels of air pollution a year: 11
• High ozone days per year: 203
• Population: 225,207
26. Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI
• Days with high PM2.5 pollution a year: 191
• Days with unhealthy levels of air pollution a year: 2
• High ozone days per year: 79
• Population: 4,304,613
25. Modesto, CA
• Days with high PM2.5 pollution a year: 151
• Days with unhealthy levels of air pollution a year: 14
• High ozone days per year: 203
• Population: 535,684
24. St. Louis, MO-IL
• Days with high PM2.5 pollution a year: 210
• Days with unhealthy levels of air pollution a year: 2
• High ozone days per year: 129
• Population: 2,804,998
23. Stockton-Lodi, CA
• Days with high PM2.5 pollution a year: 204
• Days with unhealthy levels of air pollution a year: 10
• High ozone days per year: 154
• Population: 724,153
22. Yuba City, CA
• Days with high PM2.5 pollution a year: 198
• Days with unhealthy levels of air pollution a year: 7
• High ozone days per year: 166
• Population: 170,227
21. El Paso, TX
• Days with high PM2.5 pollution a year: 147
• Days with unhealthy levels of air pollution a year: 2
• High ozone days per year: 190
• Population: 838,527
20. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
• Days with high PM2.5 pollution a year: 259
• Days with unhealthy levels of air pollution a year: 3
• High ozone days per year: 103
• Population: 6,065,644
19. Pittsburgh, PA
• Days with high PM2.5 pollution a year: 242
• Days with unhealthy levels of air pollution a year: 1
• High ozone days per year: 98
• Population: 2,348,143
18. Madera, CA
• Days with high PM2.5 pollution a year: 120
• Days with unhealthy levels of air pollution a year: 5
• High ozone days per year: 210
• Population: 154,440
17. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI
• Days with high PM2.5 pollution a year: 205
• Days with unhealthy levels of air pollution a year: 6
• High ozone days per year: 112
• Population: 9,549,229
16. Las Cruces, NM
• Days with high PM2.5 pollution a year: 50
• Days with unhealthy levels of air pollution a year: 4
• High ozone days per year: 258
• Population: 213,849
15. Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV
• Days with high PM2.5 pollution a year: 76
• Days with unhealthy levels of air pollution a year: 1
• High ozone days per year: 226
• Population: 2,112,436
14. Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade, CA
• Days with high PM2.5 pollution a year: 117
• Days with unhealthy levels of air pollution a year: 16
• High ozone days per year: 246
• Population: 2,268,005
13. Salt Lake City, UT
• Days with high PM2.5 pollution a year: 78
• Days with unhealthy levels of air pollution a year: 2
• High ozone days per year: 236
• Population: 1,170,057
12. El Centro, CA
• Days with high PM2.5 pollution a year: 100
• Days with unhealthy levels of air pollution a year: 7
• High ozone days per year: 129
• Population: 179,957
11. Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO
• Days with high PM2.5 pollution a year: 56
• Days with unhealthy levels of air pollution a year: 8
• High ozone days per year: 232
• Population: 2,798,684
10. San Diego-Carlsbad, CA
• Days with high PM2.5 pollution a year: 162
• Days with unhealthy levels of air pollution a year: 0
• High ozone days per year: 202
• Population: 3,283,665
9. Hanford-Corcoran, CA
• Days with high PM2.5 pollution a year: 123
• Days with unhealthy levels of air pollution a year: 9
• High ozone days per year: 186
• Population: 150,183
8. Payson, AZ
• Days with high PM2.5 pollution a year: 0
• Days with unhealthy levels of air pollution a year: 8
• High ozone days per year: 161
• Population: 53,145
7. Fresno, CA
• Days with high PM2.5 pollution a year: 121
• Days with unhealthy levels of air pollution a year: 19
• High ozone days per year: 231
• Population: 971,616
6. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
• Days with high PM2.5 pollution a year: 153
• Days with unhealthy levels of air pollution a year: 19
• High ozone days per year: 178
• Population: 13,261,538
5. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ
• Days with high PM2.5 pollution a year: 58
• Days with unhealthy levels of air pollution a year: 7
• High ozone days per year: 144
• Population: 4,561,038
4. Visalia-Porterville, CA
• Days with high PM2.5 pollution a year: 124
• Days with unhealthy levels of air pollution a year: 26
• High ozone days per year: 233
• Population: 458,809
3. Bakersfield, CA
• Days with high PM2.5 pollution a year: 106
• Days with unhealthy levels of air pollution a year: 27
• High ozone days per year: 246
• Population: 878,744
2. Hilo, HI
• Days with high PM2.5 pollution a year: 144
• Days with unhealthy levels of air pollution a year: 99
• High ozone days per year: 0
• Population: 196,325
1. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
• Days with high PM2.5 pollution a year: 108
• Days with unhealthy levels of air pollution a year: 52
• High ozone days per year: 210
• Population: 4,476,222
Methodology
To identify the most polluted places in America, 24/7 Tempo reviewed the EPA’s Air Quality Index (AQI) for Core-Based Statistical Areas (CBSA), otherwise known as Metro/Micropolitan Statistical Areas. The AQI for each CBSA was calculated every day by the EPA using monitored criteria gasses (carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and sulfur dioxide) and the estimated concentration of PM2.5 and PM10, which stands for particulate matter smaller than 2.5 and 10 micrometers in diameter. The number of days the AQI was calculated for each CBSA, the percentage of good, moderate, unhealthy, and hazardous days in each CBSA, and days with dangerous levels of criteria gasses all came from the EPA report. Total population data is from the American Community Survey 2017 5-Year Estimates.
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Business Insider, Aria Bendix Mar 5, 2019 – Bad Air Pollution in 2018
The 2018 California wildfire season burned nearly 2 million acres of land, sending waves of smoke into the state’s already-polluted skylines. In the wake of the Camp Fire in Paradise, California, the state’s northern areas saw pollution levels that surpassed those in China and India — two of the most polluted nations in the world.
Read more: What air pollution does to your body and brain
Despite these dips in air quality, a recent report from IQAir, a global air quality database, found that average pollution levels in the US met the World Health Organization’s standards for healthy air in 2018. But a few individual cities struggled to hit the same target.
The report listed dozens of US cities with “moderate” air quality, which could cause respiratory problems for sensitive individuals (e.g. children, older adults, or people with lung or heart disease) performing outdoor activities. Other cities showed pollution levels that fell just short of the WHO threshold.
Since these cities were often located in the same metropolitan area, we distilled the report’s data to include only large metros (those with at least one million residents).
Take a look at the eight metropolitan areas with the worst levels of air pollution in the US.
Sacramento had the worst air pollution of any major city on earth in November.
The report identified Anderson, California, an area 150 miles outside Sacramento, as the city with the worst air pollution in 2018. Anderson had an average score of 28 on the WHO air quality index, while Sacramento had an average score of nearly 15 — the highest among large metros in the US. Both levels are considered “moderate.”
For a brief time in November, Sacramento had the worst air pollution of any major city on earth due to the Camp Fire blaze. The city’s air quality has since improved, but it has taken a while for the smoke to lift.
Los Angeles is also struggling to recover from the California wildfire season.
Even before the 2018 Camp Fire, Los Angeles suffered from a lengthy streak of air pollution. From June 19 to September 14, the city saw not one day of clean air, representing the longest consecutive period of bad air quality in at least two decades.
The November wildfires piled on top of this pollution, though not all areas saw the same levels. Cities like Riverside and Long Beach ranked particularly high on the IQAir list for 2018.
In 2018, San Francisco’s air quality reached levels that could cause coughing and irritation.
In November, San Francisco’s air quality reached levels that could cause eye, nose, and throat irritation and respiratory problems for the general public — and particularly among sensitive groups. This was also the case for Bay Area cities like Stockton, Oakland, and San Jose.
By December, the average air quality in the Bay Area bounced back to meet WHO’s threshold for clean air.
San Diego’s air quality earned an ‘F’ letter grade.
San Diego’s air quality earned a failing grade last year from the American Lung Association, alongside LA and Sacramento.
In their report, the Lung Association cited the earth’s warming temperatures as one of the reasons why California air quality has declined. As global warming takes effect, it has the potential to increase ground-level ozone, which can harm the environment.
Cincinnati, Ohio suffers from particle pollution, which is often produced by construction sites and automobiles.
Unlike major California cities, Cincinnati’s air pollution was considered “satisfactory” in 2018, meaning it posed little to no risk to human health.
That said, Cincinnati is still one of the most polluted cities in the US due to its year-round particle pollution, which comes from construction sites, unpaved roads, automobiles, and power plants.
Coal-fired power plants spell bad news for air quality in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Indianapolis’ industrial roots have wreaked havoc on its air quality, though the city still claimed “satisfactory” pollution levels in 2018.
Like Cincinnati, Indianapolis can attribute its dirty air to things like vehicle traffic and coal-fired power plants.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was just shy of WHO’s clean air threshold.
Pittsburgh’s air quality just missed WHO’s clear air threshold in 2018, after previously meeting the requirements in 2017.
Last year, Pittsburgh’s Allegheny County was the only county outside California to receive ‘F’ grades across all three categories in the American Lung Association report (ozone levels, daily particulate matter levels, and long-term particulate levels).
Traffic congestion in Boston, Massachusetts could be polluting the air.
Boston is the last major US city to fall short of WHO’s clean air threshold in 2018. Around 10% of the city’s adults and 13% of its children have asthma — the fourth highest prevalence of any city in the country.
In the past, environmental experts have attributed the city’s poor air quality to increased traffic congestion. A 2018 report found that Boston had the worst rush-hour traffic of any city in the US.
