Editors’ Note: Multimedia toolkit including broadcast quality b-roll, photographs and soundbites available at: www.lungusa.mediaseed.tv/Home.aspx. Local grades available at www.stateoftheair.org.
- Listen to the statewide news conference call
- Ways to Fight Air Pollution in Your Community
- View Ed Begley PSA
(Los Angeles, CA, Embargoed Until: 12:01 a.m. (pacific) Wednesday, April 29, 2009) -- California’s air quality scored mixed grades with 38 of California’s 52 counties receiving failing grades and 16 receiving “A” grades in the 10th annual American Lung Association State of the Air 2009 report released today. Kern County ranked as having the worst annual particle pollution levels nationwide, as did San Bernardino County for ozone pollution. Likewise, the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside ranked as the worst ozone-polluted metro area and Bakersfield received the top ranking for the most year-round particle pollution.
This year, 12 more California counties received failing grades than last year, reflecting the tighter national ozone standard implemented in 2008. The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside metro area demonstrates a continued and notable improvement trend for annual particle pollution levels (dropping to number three on that most-polluted list nationwide), based on State of the Air report grades during the past decade, although particle pollution levels remain unhealthy.
The 38 California counties with air quality monitoring stations receiving failing grades for either high ozone days or particle pollution days (in alphabetical order) are Alameda, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Fresno, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Nevada, Orange, Placer, Plumas, Riverside, Sacramento, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Shasta, Solano, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Tulare, Tuolumne, Ventura and Yolo.
Sixteen California counties received an “A” grade for either low ozone or particle pollution days, with some of these counties also receiving an F grade in one category, but an A in another. The A grade recipients for at least one category, in alphabetical order, are Calaveras, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Siskiyou and Sonoma.
“Achieving and maintaining healthy air must be a public health priority, and we cannot relent on our work as a state and as individuals to keep our air clean,” said Tony Gerber, MD, PhD, a volunteer with the American Lung Association in California and a pulmonary specialist and assistant professor at the University of California. “Although there are some improvements, the significant number of failing grades for ozone and particle pollution means that the health and lives of millions of Californians are at risk because of our dirty air.”
“Now is the time to be more reliant on cleaner, low carbon fuels for transportation and power generation, such as electricity powered by solar and wind, and vehicles that are natural gas, battery electric and plug-in electric hybrids, and to finally move away from diesel, gasoline and coal” said Trisha Murakawa, board chair with the American Lung Association in California. “The California Air Resources Board’s adoption of the first-ever low carbon fuel standard last week is a giant step forward to achieve these goals and free the state from its petroleum addiction.”
Local governments must commit to strong measures to reduce vehicle emissions such as land use decisions that promote more compact development patterns and integrate transit and other alternatives to private vehicle use. The state must support local government efforts to reduce driving in every way possible, especially by providing needed funding for transit operations and improved planning.
Improving air quality benefits by strengthening the Smog Check program is another way to achieve healthier air. The American Lung Association in California is sponsoring SB 435 (Pavley) to require motorcycles, that emit 10 times more pollution per vehicle than cars, to get a biennial smog check.
“With the documented health risks, it is unacceptable that we still have thousands of old diesel buses and trucks transporting our children, food and products throughout our communities,” said Murakawa. “Effective implementation of the statewide truck and bus regulation, a measure strongly supported by the American Lung Association, will help address this problem. We have massive smoggy super-highway ports beginning in California and linking with roadways to the rest of the country and it is crucial that the ports take action to quickly reduce diesel pollution and that the International Maritime Organization allow the United States to require cleaner ocean-going vessels. Because of the ports, Californians bear the brunt of “delivery pollution” for goods going to the rest of the country.”
The State of the Air report includes a national air quality “report card” that assigns A-F grades to counties across the country and ranks cities and counties most affected by the most widespread types of pollution; ozone (or smog) and particle pollution. The report also details trends for the 25 most polluted cities. Grades for the 1,000 counties with air pollution monitors can be found by entering a zip code at www.stateoftheair.org.
Ozone is the most widespread form of air pollution. Ozone is a powerful gas formed most often when sunlight reacts with vapors when vehicles, factories, power plants and other sources burn fuel. Ozone pollution immediately irritates the lungs when inhaled, resulting in something like a bad sunburn. The health effects of breathing it can be immediate. Ozone can cause wheezing, coughing and asthma attacks. Breathing ozone pollution can even shorten lives. Breathing ozone and particle pollution is bad even for healthy children and adults.
The ozone grades incorporate the new national air quality standard for ozone, adopted in March 2008. This standard recognizes that even lower levels of ozone can be more harmful than previously thought. Failing grades for ozone pollution do not necessarily mean that the ozone levels have gotten worse from previous years,” explained Gerber. “It does mean that now we recognize that the ozone we have is much more dangerous and we need to do more to clean up the sources.”
Particle pollution is a toxic mix of soot, diesel exhaust, chemicals, metals and aerosols. It is the most dangerous and deadly of the outdoor air pollutants that are widespread in America. Breathing in particle pollution can increase the risk of early death, heart attacks, strokes and emergency room visits for asthma and cardiovascular disease. Particle pollution also affects how children’s lungs grow and function.
The American Lung Association’s State of the Air 2009 report finds that 6 out of 10 Americans --186.1 million people -- live in areas where air pollution levels endanger lives. State of the Air 2009 acknowledges substantial progress against air pollution in many areas of the country, but finds nearly every major city still burdened by air pollution. Despite America’s growing “green” movement, the air in many cities became dirtier since the last report.
“This should be a wake up call, that we as a nation can no longer consider air pollution a nuisance but rather a major threat to human health,” Gerber said. “When millions of Californians and 60 percent of Americans are left breathing air dirty enough to send people to the emergency room, to affect how kids’ lungs develop, and to kill, air pollution remains a serious problem that must be addressed.”
The report finds that air pollution now hovers at unhealthy levels in almost every major city, threatening people’s ability to breathe and placing lives at risk. Some of the biggest sources of air pollution, including power plants, old diesel engines, ocean-going vessels, and wood burning also worsen global warming.
“More than 175 million Americans, including those living in California live in areas with unhealthy smog levels; that’s 80 million more than we identified in last year’s report,” explained Charles D. Connor, American Lung Association President and CEO. “That higher number comes, in large part, because of the tighter ozone standard which let us know that more areas have unhealthy air. Yet, even that understates the problem. We at the American Lung Association believe that the new ozone standard is not yet strong enough to protect human health, an opinion shared by nearly all scientific experts.”
Emerging research has redefined the severity and immediate health impacts of particle and ozone pollution. New data show that women in their 50’s may be particularly threatened by air pollution. Diesel truck drivers and dockworkers who are forced to breathe exhaust on the job may face a greater risk of developing lung cancer or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
“The science is rock-solid. People are hurt by air pollution. Air pollution can harm even healthy adults, but it can threaten the lives of more vulnerable people such as infants and older adults,” said Gerber. “Californians can take steps to improve air quality, steps that can ultimately impact global warming as well. That includes driving less, switching to cleaner-fueled vehicles, like natural gas, battery-electric and hybrid electric-gasoline; walking, carpooling and taking public transportation and bicycles; not burning wood or trash; use hand-powered or electric yard care equipment rather than gasoline-powered versions; and using less electricity.”
“We need to renew our commitment to providing healthy air for all our citizens—a commitment the United States made almost 40 years ago when Congress passed the Clean Air Act,” Connor said. “Even after four decades, we still have much work to do. America needs to cut emissions from big polluters like coal-fired power plants and ocean-going vessels. We need to fix old dirty diesel engines to make them cleaner and strengthen the ozone standards to better protect our health. We also need to improve the decaying infrastructure of air monitors. America now must enforce the laws that help us improve our nation’s air quality.”
Visit www.californialung.org to see local air quality grades and to get involved by sending messages to Congress and Administration officials about taking action to protect the air we breathe.
About the American Lung Association: Now in its second century, the American Lung Association is the leading organization working to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease. With your generous support, the American Lung Association is “Fighting for Air” through research, education and advocacy. For more information about the American Lung Association, a Charity Navigator Four Star Charity and holder of the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Guide Seal, or to support the work it does, call 1-800-LUNG-USA (1-800-586-4872) or visit www.lungusa.org.
