County scores poorly in national air pollution report
The American Lung Association gave Ashtabula County a D grade in its 2025 State of the Air Report.
The ALA's annual report analyzed pollution across the United States based on data from the Environmental Protection Agency from 2021 to 2023.
The county had nine orange days, which meant air quality was unhealthy for sensitive groups, due to high amounts of ozone gas.
Ozone gas is created when nitrogen oxide pollution and volatile organic compound pollution reacts under sunlight. Both pollutants are common products of fossil fuels.
ALA Director of Advocacy for Ohio and Michigan Kezia Ofosu Atta said when inhaled, ozone gas can cause asthma and harm to the cardiovascular, reproductive and nervous system.
Lake and Cuyahoga counties both got an F for high ozone days, while Trumbull and Geauga counties got Cs.
Erie County, Pennsylvania received a C. Data was not available for Crawford County, Pennsylvania.
The state of the air report also looked into particle pollution, which is also a product of fossil fuels.
The report included information on the the Cleveland-Akron-Canton metro area, which Atta said includes Ashtabula County.
'Six metro areas experienced levels of air pollution that moved them onto the Worst 25 list,' the report said. '[Greater Cleveland] posted the most dramatic shift in the country, resulting in its rank dropping from 54th to ninth worst [for year-round particle pollution].'
The report did not have any information on particle pollution in Ashtabula County.
Atta said increased wildfires caused by global warming have made both kinds of pollution more common.
'The 2023 Canadian wildfires made an impact, as well as our own emissions,' she said.
Particle pollution carries many of the same health risks as ozone gas, Atta said.
Overall, the report found air pollution across the country has gotten significantly worse in the last year, with 46% of Americans living in areas the report graded F for air pollution.
'This is nearly 25 million more people breathing unhealthy air compared to last year's report, and more than in any other 'State of the Air' report in the last ten years,' the report said.
Children, seniors, people with asthma, pregnant individuals, non-white people and people in poverty are particularly vulnerable to air pollution, according to the report.
Atta said seniors exposed to air pollution are more likely to suffer heart attacks, strokes, heart disease and congestive heart failure.
Children are vulnerable too, she said.
'The incidences of asthma increased when they're exposed to pollution,' she said.
Many fossil fuel factories are often built in poorer non-white communities, leaving them more exposed to pollution, Atta said.
Atta said Black people are twice as likely to develop issues from air pollution, and Hispanic people are three times as likely.
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