Latest news with #KeziaOfosuAtta
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
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.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Detroit has worst soot pollution in Midwest, American Lung Association report finds
The city of Detroit is the sixth-worst location in the country for year-round particle pollution — soot, the nonprofit American Lung Association's 2025 "State of the Air" report finds. Detroit also received failing grades for its number of unhealthy days per year of ground-level ozone, or smog, in the Lung Association study, which looked at air quality monitoring data collected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other state, local and tribal groups. Both ozone and particle pollution can cause premature death and other serious health effects such as asthma attacks, heart attacks, strokes, preterm babies, impaired cognitive function later in life, and lung cancer, said Kezia Ofosu Atta, advocacy director for the Lung Association of Michigan. "Unfortunately, too many people in Detroit are living with unhealthy levels of ozone and particle pollution," she said. "This air pollution is causing kids to have asthma attacks, making people who work outdoors sick and unable to work, and leading to low birth weight in babies. We urge Michigan policymakers to take action to improve our air." More: Trump budget document points to ending federal role in Great Lakes science by next year More: 'We were not prepared': Canada fought nightmarish wildfires as smoke became US problem The 2025 "State of the Air" report reviewed quality-assured data from between 2021-2023. Many areas of the eastern United States saw a rise in particle pollution issues with Canada's record-shattering wildfire season in 2023, the smoke hanging over Michigan, New York and other states for days and weeks at a time. By the Lung Association's analysis of EPA and other air quality data, Detroit experienced 6.2 days per year of unhealthy levels of ground-level ozone pollution, or smog. That's up from 5.7 days per year in the 2024 report. The number of unhealthy days per year for particle pollution in the Detroit metro area was 8.5 days, soaring above the 4.8 days in the 2024 report, with Canadian wildfires smoke a major contributor. Nationwide, the report found that 156 million people in the United States, some 46%, live in an area that received a failing grade for at least one measure of air pollution. Some 42.5 million people, including metro Detroiters, live in areas with failing grades for all three of the study's measures. The report also found that a person of color in the United States is more than twice as likely as a white individual to live in a community with a failing grade on all three pollution measures. Hispanic individuals are nearly three times as likely than white individuals to live in a community with three failing grades. The top five metro areas for year-round particulate pollution, in order, are Bakersfield, Visalia and Fresno, California; Eugene, Oregon; and Los Angeles-Long Beach. The report notes that dramatic improvements to air quality occurred after the enactment of the federal Clean Air Act in 1970, even as the U.S. economy grew. "Over the last decade, however, the findings of the report have added to the extensive evidence that a changing climate is making it harder to protect this hard-fought progress on air quality and human health," the report states. "Increases in high ozone days and spikes in particle pollution related to extreme heat, drought and wildfires are putting millions of people at risk and adding challenges to the work that states and cities are doing across the nation to clean up air pollution." EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in March announced plans for "the biggest deregulation in U.S. history," scaling back or eliminating numerous air pollution standards for oil and gas development and industry. "Under the Clean Air Act, the U .S . Environmental Protection Agency has driven decades of progress in cleaning up the transportation, electricity, buildings and industrial sectors," the Lung Association's report states. "At the same time, EPA has tracked, analyzed and expanded the nation's understanding of air pollution at the community level. Now, however, all of that progress is at risk. Sweeping staff cuts and reduction of federal funding are stymieing the agency's ability to ensure that people have clean air to breathe. This year's 'State of the Air' focuses onan overarching clarion call to people nationwide: support and defend EPA." The "Fight for Air Climb" in Detroit, a fundraiser for the Lung Association and its mission, is scheduled for May 4. Participants will scale the stairs at Comerica Park. Learn more at Contact Keith Matheny: kmatheny@ This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: American Lung Association report gives failing grades to Detroit's air
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Cleveland's air among ‘most polluted' in America: Study
CLEVELAND (WJW) — The American Lung Association has released its annual 'State of the Air' report and found that Cleveland is among the worst in the nation for year-round particle pollution, also known as 'soot.' Each year, for the past 26 years, the Lung Association has analyzed data from official air quality monitors to compile the report and track unhealthy levels of both ozone air pollution (smog) and particle pollution (soot.) The report then ranks the most polluted and cleanest U.S. cities based on an area's number of unhealthy air days. This year's report looked at a three-year period (2021-2023) and found Cleveland to be the 9th worst in the nation for year-round particle pollution. According to the report, Cleveland posted the 'most dramatic' shift in the country, resulting in its rank dropping from 54th to 9th worst. New fast food chain coming to NE Ohio 'Unfortunately, too many people in Cleveland are living with unhealthy levels of ozone and particle pollution. This air pollution is causing kids to have asthma attacks, making people who work outdoors sick and unable to work, and leading to low birth weight in babies. We urge Ohio policymakers to take action to improve our air quality,' said Kezia Ofosu Atta, Advocacy Director for the Lung Association in Ohio in a press release. According to the Lung Association, ozone and particle pollution are the most widespread pollutants and among the 'most dangerous.' The recent report found that nearly half of the U.S. population (46%) live in an area that received a failing grade for at least one measure of air pollution. Rare 'smiley face' to light up the sky this week 'The air pollutants covered in this report are widespread and can impact anyone's health. Both ozone and particle pollution can cause premature death and other serious health effects such as asthma attacks, heart attacks and strokes, preterm births and impaired cognitive functioning later in life. Particle pollution can also cause lung cancer,' said Atta, To learn more about the 'State of the Air' report, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
23-04-2025
- Climate
- CBS News
Air pollution in Metro Detroit ranks among the worst in the country, report says
The Detroit metro area has the sixth-worst air quality in the nation for year-round pollution, according to a newly released report from the American Lung Association. The Lung Association's annual "State of the Air" report looks at exposure to smog, or ground-level ozone air pollution; along with year-round and short-term spikes in soot, or particle pollution. The 2025 report was released Tuesday, citing issues such as wildfire smoke contributing to pollution in several states and a deadly heat wave in Texas during 2024. Specific to the Detroit-Warren-Ann Arbor, the report related the following data: 6.2 days listed with unhealthy ozone pollution in the past year 8.5 days listed with unhealthy particle pollution in the past year. "The air pollutants covered in this report are widespread and can impact anyone's health. Both ozone and particle pollution can cause premature death and other serious health effects such as asthma attacks, heart attacks and strokes, preterm births and impaired cognitive functioning later in life. Particle pollution can also cause lung cancer," said Kezia Ofosu Atta, Advocacy Director for the Lung Association in Michigan. "Unfortunately, too many people in Detroit are living with unhealthy levels of ozone and particle pollution. This air pollution is causing kids to have asthma attacks, making people who work outdoors sick and unable to work, and leading to low birth weight in babies. We urge Michigan policymakers to take action to improve our air." Air quality advisories and alerts The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy issues air quality advisories or the more severe air quality alerts, starting when pollution levels reach the Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups range. These announcements replace the former Ozone Action Day alert process, but are similar in intent and instructions for the public. The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments reports six such advisories were issued in 2024 for the Metro Detroit area, ranging in dates from May 17 to July 17. On advisory days, residents are asked to postpone refueling vehicles and using gas-powered lawn equipment; delay or combine errands that use gas-powered vehicles.
