Apr 22, 2020 4 min read

With the demand for ventilators and respiratory therapists making headlines daily during the novel coronavirus pandemic, people may be giving more thought to the delicate, life-sustaining exchange that takes place between air sacs in the lungs and what we breathe.

Some have even described the ravages of COVID-19 as “lung failure,” and those who smoke and live in areas with poor air quality seem to fare worse when trying to fend off the disease, according to the American Lung Association.

Washington and Greene countians might be able to breathe a little easier than Pittsburghers, according to information on air pollution released by the organization, but there’s room for improvement, according to the lung organization.

“State of the Air” 2020 actually looks at statistics from 2016 through 2018, and for that period assigned Allegheny County an F grade for ozone levels – also known as smog – and another failing grade overall when ozone is combined with the presence of particulates, commonly called soot.

As for residents of surrounding counties, Greene County received a B for ozone levels, while Washington was assigned a C and Westmoreland County came in with a D in that category.

“For the parents of the nearly 4,000 children that suffer from pediatric asthma in Washington County, receiving a grade of C for ozone pollution is concerning,” said Rachel Filippini, executive director of the Group Against Smog and Pollution.

“Ensuring the state Department of Environmental Protection has adequate resources to conduct enforcement, permitting and monitoring is critical to protecting public health.”

Washington, Greene and Westmoreland earned an A for low particulate levels.

“A” grades for fine particle pollution registering no days with average concentrations in the unhealthy ranges, according to the air quality standard, placed these counties on the list of cleanest counties in the nation for this pollutant.

Beaver countians fared a little worse. The lung association assigned Beaver County a failing grade for ozone levels, but registered better with a B in particulates and passed overall.

Fayette County had incomplete monitoring data for all three years and therefore the lung association assigned no grade.

“Orange alerts” in the four counties around Allegheny that were reporting data – meaning days when the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups – totaled 12 in Beaver, seven in Westmoreland, five in Washington and just one in Greene. Allegheny County experienced 24 such days.

The American Lung Association’s 2020 “State of the Air” report found the Pittsburgh-New Castle-Weirton, W.Va. metro area, which also includes parts of Ohio, tied for the eighth-most polluted urban area in the nation for its year-round average levels of fine-particle pollution.

It was one of only nine in the nation earning a failing grade for this measure and was the only metro area outside the state of California to do so.

Although its result continued to fail to meet the air quality standard, the area nevertheless improved to match its best-ever year-round average concentration of fine-particle pollution.

Ozone and particle pollution are the nation’s most widespread air pollutants and both can be deadly, according to the American Lung Association.

Once again, the report found that nearly half of all Americans were exposed to unhealthy air during the three-year period.

In the three-state, 12-county Pittsburgh metropolitan area, ozone air pollution placed the health of over 2.6 million residents at risk, including those who are more vulnerable to the effects of air pollution such as older adults, children and those with a lung disease.

“This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Clean Air Act, which has been responsible for dramatic improvements in air quality. However, Pittsburgh area residents continue to breathe some of the most unhealthy air in the country, driven by emissions from vehicles and industrial sources, both locally generated as well as from upwind, placing their health and lives at risk,” said Kevin Stewart, American Lung Association director of environmental health.

“Furthermore, with nearly half of Americans breathing unhealthy air, our ‘State of the Air’ report shows that nationally, because of climate change, the nation is heading in the wrong direction when it comes to protecting public health.”

Each year, “State of the Air” provides a report card on the two most widespread outdoor air pollutants, ozone and particles. The report analyzes particle pollution in two ways: through average annual particle pollution levels and short-term spikes.

Both ozone and particle pollution are dangerous to public health and can increase the risk of premature death and other serious health effects such as asthma attacks, cardiovascular damage, and developmental and reproductive harm.

Wildfires and their smoke produce particle pollution, which can also cause lung cancer, and new research links air pollution to the development of serious diseases, such as asthma and dementia.

Ozone and particle pollution especially threaten children, older adults and people living with a lung disease.