Study Finds Over 63 Million Americans Living in Areas with Deadly Air Pollution

Air pollution is a growing threat to public health in the United States.

According to a recent report by the American Lung Association (ALA), almost 64 million Americans are living in areas with daily spikes in particulate pollution. Particle pollution in the air comes from sources like factory fumes and vehicle emissions and is noted in the report as a “deadly and growing threat” to public health.

Wildfires in the West are also a major factor in the uptick in days and places with unhealthy levels of this type of pollution, Washington State University reports.

The Impact of Poor Air Quality

The ALA report found that around 63.7 million Americans lived in 111 counties across 19 states with failing grades for unhealthy spikes in particulate matter air pollution during the period from 2019 to 2021. Particle pollution has been linked to numerous health problems, including:

• Asthma attacks
• Cardiovascular disease
• Lung cancer
• Stroke
• Premature death

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that air pollution is responsible for around 7 million deaths worldwide every year. In the US alone, air pollution is estimated to cause 200,000 premature deaths annually.

The more researchers learn about the health effects of particle pollution, the more dangerous it is recognized to be. Poor air quality can also have a disproportionate impact on marginalized communities, including low-income and minority populations, who are more likely to live in areas with high levels of pollution, the ALA reports.

According to a report by the NAACP, low-income and communities of color are disproportionately affected by air pollution, with African Americans being 75% more likely to live in areas with unhealthy levels of particulate matter than non-Hispanic whites. These communities are often located near sources of pollution such as highways, factories, and power plants, and are more likely to have limited access to healthcare services. As a result, they may face higher rates of respiratory illnesses, heart disease, and other health problems linked to air pollution.

Efforts and Laws to Protect Americans

Despite decades of progress on cleaning up sources of air pollution, the ALA report found that roughly a third of Americans, or 119.6 million people, were living in places with failing grades for unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution. This figure represents a decrease of 17.6 million people from the year prior, and the report cites the success of the Clean Air Act over the last few decades as a driving factor behind this “positive trend.”

The Clean Air Act, passed in 1970, is a federal law designed to protect the air we breathe by regulating emissions of pollutants from stationary and mobile sources. However, the law has faced numerous challenges over the years, including attempts to weaken its regulations and reduce funding for enforcement.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that in 2020, 32% of counties in the U.S. had air quality that did not meet national standards for particle pollution, ozone, or both. Additionally, in 2021, California experienced its worst wildfire season on record, which worsened air quality and created hazardous conditions for millions of residents in the state.

Efforts to weaken the Clean Air Act have continued in recent years. In 2020, the Trump administration rolled back several key provisions of the act, including regulations on methane emissions from oil and gas facilities and restrictions on emissions from coal-fired power plants. The rollbacks were met with significant opposition from environmental groups and some states, who argued that they would lead to increased air pollution and have negative impacts on public health. However, these rollbacks were ultimately upheld by the Supreme Court in 2021, demonstrating the ongoing challenges faced by the Clean Air Act in protecting air quality, and in 2022 the court ruled to limit the EPA’s ability to restrict power plant emissions, the New York Times reports

The Importance of Clean Air

Clean air is essential for human health and well-being. It is a basic human right that should be protected and upheld by governments at all levels. Poor air quality not only harms human health but also has economic and environmental costs, including reduced crop yields, damage to buildings, and harm to ecosystems.

The economic burden of air pollution is also significant, with estimated costs of over $600 billion annually in the United States due to healthcare expenses and lost productivity, according to a study by the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air and Greenpeace.

Additionally, air pollution can have a significant impact on the environment. It contributes to climate change and can cause harm to ecosystems, including damage to crops and forests, and harm to wildlife, the EPA reports. The deposition of particulate matter from the air can also have a negative impact on water quality, leading to the contamination of rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water.

As such, protecting clean air is crucial to ensuring a healthy and sustainable future for both humans and the environment. Strong laws and regulations, such as the Clean Air Act, are important steps toward achieving this goal. However, enforcement of these laws and continued efforts to reduce emissions from stationary and mobile sources of pollution are necessary to ensure that everyone has access to clean air.

Take Action: Sign the Petition to Strengthen the Clean Air Act

We all have a role to play in protecting our air quality and ensuring that everyone has access to clean air. One way to take action is by signing our petition asking the EPA to strengthen and enforce the Clean Air Act to protect our health and the environment.

Click below and help us make a difference in the fight for clean air and a healthier future for all Americans!