By Olivia Wynkoop. Bay City News.
California metropolitan areas like the Bay Area, Los Angeles and Bakersfield continue to persevere as some of the most air polluting cities in the US, according to a new report from the American Lung Association.
Thus, 9 out of 10 Californians live in an area affected by harmful air pollutants, according to the State of the Air 2023 report on Wednesday.
Bakersfield and Visalia tied for first as the city with the most particulate pollution all year, and Los Angeles dominated as the city with the worst ozone pollution, also known as smog, as it has been for nearly 24 years.
The 24th Annual Air Report used the most recent air pollution data from the US Environmental Protection Agency, with a focus on ozone and particulates. The researchers assigned grades to counties and cities across the country based on daily and long-term levels of air pollution.
In previous years, the report's findings have mirrored the success of the federal Clean Air Act, highlighting significant reductions in pollution in the industrial and transportation sectors.
But recent years have revealed new obstacles to preserving clean air as climate change-induced natural disasters intensify — specifically, disproportionately higher particulate pollution in western states from wildfires.
Wednesday's report cites wildfires contributing to an increase in the number of places and days facing harmful levels of particle pollution.
Between 2019 and 2021, nearly 32 million people in 10 states endured days when air quality index particulate levels were 106 parts per billion or higher, levels that increase health risks everyone, regardless of pre-existing conditions, according to the report. The researchers note that this is a "worrying sign of a trend" that is likely to continue if wildfire conditions worsen.
Mariela Ruacho, clean air advocacy manager for the American Lung Association in California, called on California officials to move quickly with wildfire prevention efforts and investments in clean transportation.
“We need zero emission technologies across the board,” Ruacho said. "We also need to build a healthier transportation system."
Overall, air quality has improved across the country: 17.6 million fewer people are living in unhealthy ozone levels or particulate pollution levels than in last year's report.
But unhealthy air places a disproportionate burden on communities of color: Nationwide, 72 percent of residents living in counties with poor air pollution ratings are people of color.
Dr. Sonal Patel, an allergy and immunology specialist in Southern California, said breathing polluted air is linked to respiratory and cardiovascular damage, and poses a significant threat to people with asthma.
“I know when I see those foggy smoggy days, my phone will start ringing in the office because my asthma patients will start having problems, even though they are not to blame,” Patel said. "They can't avoid unhealthy air, I've seen these effects firsthand."
Now is the time to make investments that clean the air, Katherine Pruitt, senior national director of policy for the American Lung Association, said at a news conference Tuesday.
"The American Lung Association is calling on the Biden administration to urgently move forward on several measures to clean up air pollution across the country, including limits on ozone and particulate pollution and new measures in California," Pruitt explained. .
California Assembly Majority Leader Eloise Gomez Reyes, D-Colton, also present at Tuesday's press conference, introduced legislation that would impose more air quality measures at storage facilities and trucking . Reyes represents San Bernardino, the county ranked with the worst ozone pollution in the nation.
“There are so many residents facing this general burden, especially from local pollution from the hundreds of thousands of diesel trucks that drive through our communities,” Gomez Reyes said. "Trucks pass into black and brown communities and immigrants in low-income neighborhoods, making life unhealthy."
“The pollution that my most vulnerable communities face is not much different from the pollution that so many Californians face. We must clean up all local sources of pollution to reduce our regional burdens," he added.
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