NJ Has Among Nation's Worst Air, American Lung Association Study Says

No matter where you go in New Jersey, you're probably breathing in bad air. And that includes the places that are far away from the smokestacks of Elizabeth and Linden.

That's the conclusion of a newly released American Lung Association report that says New Jersey has perhaps the worst air quality in the nation. Most of the state received an F grade for the air we breathe.

Indeed, 11 of the 21 counties in New Jersey got an F rating when it comes to ground-level ozone pollution, according to the report. The New York-Newark area and the Philadelphia area were also listed among the 25 most polluted cities.

Efforts to get comment from the state Department of Environmental Protection were not immediately successful.

Atlantic, Cumberland and Warren counties received C grades, and Passaic got a D. Six other counties received a "DNC," meaning there wasn't enough data to make a determination. They were: Burlington, Cape May, Salem, Somerset, Sussex and Union.

These counties received F grades:

• Bergen
• Camden
• Essex
• Gloucester
• Hudson
• Hunterdon
• Mercer
• Middlesex
• Monmouth
• Morris
• Ocean

The State of the Air 2017 report found continued improvement in air quality in 2013—2015 in ozone and year-round particle pollution but an "unrelenting increase in dangerous spikes in particle pollution." Click here to find the report's methodology.

Nationwide, the number of people exposed to unhealthy levels of air pollution dropped to more than 125 million people, from 166 million in the years covered in the 2016 report (2012—2014).

The State of the Air 2017 report shows that cleaning up pollution continues successfully in much of the nation. In the 25 cities with the worst ozone and year-round particle pollution, the majority saw improvements from last year.

Many again reached their lowest levels ever of these widespread air pollutants, according to the report. State of the Air 2017 shows that more than four in 10 people had unhealthy air quality in their communities.

New Jersey does fare better in terms of particle pollution, which, like ground-level ozone, "threaten the health and the lives of millions of Americans." Here are those grades:

• Atlantic A
• Bergen A
• Burlington DNC
• Camden B
• Cape May DNC
• Cumberland DNC
• Essex B
• Gloucester A
• Hudson B
• Hunterdon DNC
• Mercer A
• Middlesex A
• Monmouth DNC
• Morris A
• Ocean B
• Passaic A
• Salem DNC
• Somerset DNC
• Sussex DNC
• Union C
• Warren A

But ground-level ozone pollution is more serious because it's formed when emissions from everyday items combine with other pollutants and “cook” in the heat and sunlight, according to the association.

The association says more than 125 million people live in counties where monitors show unhealthy levels of one or both—meaning the air a family breathes could shorten lives or cause lung cancer.

"Even as most cities experienced strong improvement, too many cities suffered worse episodes of unhealthy air," according to the report. "While most of the nation has much cleaner air quality than even a decade ago, many cities reported their highest number of unhealthy days since the report began, including some that experienced extreme weather events."

You can read the whole report by clicking here.

Patch file photo