Since 2000, the American Lung Association (ALA) has published an annual report called the “State of the Air.”
This report examines air pollution levels around the United States and how they affect different people.
The report specifically evaluates three of the most widespread and harmful air pollutants across federal, state, local, and tribal metrics: ozone pollution, year-round particle pollution, and short-term particle pollution.
They assign values to grades of pollution to rank the air quality of metropolitan areas and counties around the country.
In April 2021, the ALA released their 2021 report, which covers data from 2017 to 2019. Here’s what they found.
2021 Report Takeaways
The overall finding of the report was that 40% of Americans, or over 135 million people, lived in areas with unhealthy levels of air pollution.
In addition, 217 counties across the nation were flagged for having unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution.
This finding is an improvement from the 2020 State of the Air, which reported that 149.8 million people lived with unhealthy levels of air pollution. This improvement is mostly due to reduced levels of ozone pollution.
However, deadly particulate matter air pollution has increased. The 2021 report found that there were 1.1 million more people breathing unhealthy levels of short-term particle pollution than in 2020’s report.
This unsettling data comes at a pivotal moment. The importance of lung health particularly hits home in the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the three years covered by the report are ranked among the six hottest years on record globally.
This extreme heat combined with wildfires and high days of pollution result in millions more people at risk of health complications, which creates further challenges for organizations working to clean up air pollution.
How Are Different People Affected?
The crucial factor in all of this new data is how exactly different societal groups experience air pollution. The ALA found that people of color were three times more likely to breathe heavily polluted air than white people.
Breaking it down further, the inequalities become even more apparent:
- 20.7 million people live in the 13 counties that failed all three grading measures. Of these 20.7 million people, 14 million are people of color.
- People of color were 61% more likely to live in a county with a failing grade for at least one pollutant.
- People of color were over three times more likely to live in a county with a failing grade for all three pollutants.
The ALA also found that people living in poverty are at higher risk of health issues due to air pollution. Over 15.8 million people with incomes that meet the federal threshold for poverty live in counties that failed for at least one pollutant, and 2.8 million of these people live in counties that failed all three.
All of these societal factors intersect, leaving some people particularly vulnerable to health complications.
Where you live, limited access to healthcare, existing health conditions, and stressors like economic struggles, racial discrimination, and fear of deportation can all have an effect on how air pollution impacts your life.
What Can We Do?
There are actionable ways to help protect yourself, your community, and the world at large from health risks due to air pollution.
- Reduce your own personal air-related health risks on a daily basis.
- Remember to check air pollution forecasts in your area.
- Avoid exercising in high-traffic areas to avoid excessively breathing heavily polluted air.
- Take measures to avoid smoke if you live in an area prone to wildfires.
To help clean up the air in your community, the ALA recommends you do the following:
- Prioritize public transportation or carpooling over driving.
- Reduce the amount of electricity you use.
- Avoid burning wood or trash.
Most of all, getting involved can make a huge difference.
Local governments make critical decisions for their communities—from building bike lanes and collecting recycling to preventing pollutant-heavy industries from expanding their operations—and anyone can get involved.
To improve air quality on a national and global level, it’s important to support policies that promote clean air. These include better air monitoring programs, limits on ozone and particle pollution, and investing in the communities who need the assistance most.
Air quality affects the entire world, and millions of people in the U.S. are at risk of health complications from pollution—and many don’t have the access to healthcare they need in a pulmonary crisis.
G3 believes in bringing health information and access to as many people as possible, particularly those most in need. Contact us today to find out how we can do our part in cleaning up the air and improving the world’s health together.