Rise in Air Pollution Affects Almost Half of US Population
(MENAFN) Almost 156 million individuals in the United States — nearly half of the nation’s citizens — now reside in locations with dangerously degraded air, according to a fresh assessment.
This figure reflects a concerning increase of 25 million more people compared to the year prior, as outlined in a recent publication.
The report, issued on Wednesday by the American Lung Association through its "State of the Air" analysis, utilized data spanning from 2021 to 2023.
It highlights deteriorating patterns in both ground-level ozone and fine airborne particles throughout the country.
Notably, approximately 85 million residents inhabit zones that were assigned failing scores for constant exposure to soot.
Additionally, short-term particle contamination escalated to its highest point in 16 years, affecting over 77 million individuals.
"These particles are incredibly tiny – a fraction of the width of a human hair – and they’re getting into people’s lungs and bloodstreams," explained Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos, a lung disease expert at Johns Hopkins Medicine and a contributor to the American Lung Association.
"As a lung doctor, I don’t have any medication that can really offset that. For pollution, we rely on good policies and legislation to protect lung health," he shared with the media.
Regions with the most severe year-round exposure to particulate matter include California’s Bakersfield, Visalia, and Fresno, in addition to major metropolitan areas such as Detroit, Houston, and the San Francisco Bay Area, based on the findings.
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