You Can Breathe Easy; Tampa Bay's Air Quality Remains Good

TAMPA BAY, FL -- More than 40 percent of Americans live in areas with unhealthy air, according to a new report published Wednesday by the American Lung Association. Fortunately, Tampa Bay residents can breathe freely for the most part. Hillsborough and Pinellas counties ranked among the cleanest counties in the U.S. for short-term particle pollution.

Don't hold your breath, however.

Particularly in the spring, Tampa Bay is subject to ozone air pollution advisories. Pinellas County issued an advisory on April 17 and again yesterday when levels of ozone were expected to meet the Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups Air Quality Index range of 101 – 150.

The Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission issued a similar advisory on April 16.

Harold Wimmer, American Lung Association president and CEO, said even counties with overall good air quality need to be diligent. After years of progress, Wimmer said there’s clear evidence of a “disturbing trend,” with many Americans seeing their air quality worsening due to wildfires and weather patterns. Climate change is fueling that trend, he said.

“This increase in unhealthy air is eye-opening, and points to the reality that the nation must do more to protect the public from serious, even life-threatening harm,” Wimmer said in a news release. “There is no clearer sign that we are facing new challenges than air pollution levels that have broken records tracked for the past 20 years, and the fact that we had more days than ever before when monitored air quality reached hazardous levels for anyone to breathe."

The American Lung Association, whose work involves improving lung health and preventing lung disease, looked at ozone and particle pollution, often called soot, in its 20th annual “State of the Air” report. Nationwide, more than 141 million people lived in areas last year with unsafe levels of the two, the report found. That’s an increase of more than 7 million from 2017.

The report graded air quality using color codes. Maroon refers to hazardous air quality, while purple and red refer to very unhealthy and unhealthy, respectively. Orange means the air was unhealthy for people with sensitive health conditions.

Here’s what the report found for Tampa Bay:

Hillsborough County

High ozone days:

• Grade: D
• Orange days: 6
• Red days: 1
• Purple days: 0

Particle pollution

• Grade: A
• Orange days: 0
• Red days: 0
• Purple days: 0
• Maroon days: 0
• Grade (annual): Pass

Pinellas County

High ozone days:

• Grade: B
• Orange days: 1
• Red days: 0
• Purple days: 0

Particle pollution

• Grade: A
• Orange days: 0
• Red days: 0
• Purple days: 0
• Maroon days: 0
• Grade (annual): Pass

Pasco County

High ozone days:

• Grade: C
• Orange days: 3
• Red days: 0
• Purple days: 0

Particle pollution

• Grade: no data
• Orange days: no data
• Red days: no data
• Purple days: no data
• Maroon days: no data
• Grade (annual): no data

The report looked at three years of data on the two most widespread outdoor air pollutants from 2015-17, which were the warmest years in recorded history.

Particle pollution comes from many sources, including wildfires, wood-burning devices, coal plants and diesel engines. Particulate matter is dangerous because it becomes lodged deep in the lungs and can enter the bloodstream, triggering asthma attacks, heart attacks and strokes, and, in some cases, causing lung cancer. For the study, researchers with the Lung Association measured particle pollution in both short- and long-term intervals. Short-term refers to daily spikes that can prove deadly, while long-term refers to yearly average.

California, which has been devastated by wildfires in recent years, is home to four of the 10 cities most polluted by short-term particle pollution, and six of the 10 most polluted year-round. Furthermore, the Golden State is home to seven of the 10 most ozone-polluted cities.

Ozone pollution, often called smog, is unhealthy and essentially leaves a sunburn on the lungs, the report said. Breathing in ozone can leave people suffering from shortness of breath and cause bouts of coughing, asthma attacks and even early death.

Hillsborough County was among 65 counties in the country to receive a D for ozone levels. This means 1,477,709 adults with asthma at risk, 390,422 children with asthma at risk, 1,283,622 people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) at risk and 1,283,622 with cardiovascular disease at risk.

Pasco County was among 138 counties to receive a C for ozone levels. That means 2,348,750 adults with asthma must be careful, 619,078 children with asthma, 1,849,706 people with COPD and 2,280,647 people with cardiovascular disease.

Los Angeles remained the city with the worst ozone for the 19th time in the report’s 20-year history. Here are the 10 places most polluted by ozone:

1. Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA
2. Visalia, CA
3. Bakersfield, CA
4. Fresno-Madera-Hanford, CA
5. Sacramento-Roseville, CA
6. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA
7. Phoenix-Mesa, AZ
8. San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA
9. Houston-The Woodlands, TX
10. New York-Newark, NY–NJ-CT-PA

What are the most breathable cities?

According to the association, four cities ranked on both lists for ozone and year-round particle pollution levels. These cities had no days in the unhealthy level for ozone pollution and were on the list of the cleanest cities for year-round particle pollution. They are:

• Anchorage, Alaska
• Bellingham, Washington
• Casper, Wyoming
• Salinas, Californi

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.