Pittsburgh Area's Air Quality Poor: American Lung Association

PITTSBURGH, PA — Western Pennsylvania's air quality ranks among the nation's worst, according to the American Lung Association's 2023 "State of the Air" report released Wednesday.

The report grades Americans’ exposure to unhealthy levels of ground-level ozone air pollution, annual particle pollution, and short-term spikes in particle pollution over a three-year period. This year’s report covers 2019-2021.

The lung association found that the Pittsburgh region:

• Ranked 14th worst for annual particle pollution out of 200 metropolitan areas. According to the study, research has linked year-round exposure to particle pollution to a wide array of serious health effects at every stage of life.

• Ranked 20th worst for 24-hour particle pollution out of 223 metropolitan areas. According to the study, short-term spikes in particle pollution that last from a few hours to a few days can kill. Most premature deaths are from respiratory and cardiovascular causes. Spikes in particle pollution also have many other harmful effects, ranging from decreased lung function to heart attacks.

• Ranked 54th worst for high ozone days out of 227 metropolitan areas. When inhaled into the lungs,ozone reacts with the delicate lining of the airways, causing inflammation and other damage that can impact multiple body systems. Ozone exposure can also shorten lives, the study stated.

The 12-county Pittsburgh-New Castle-Weirton, PA-OH-WV metro area continues to rank among the worst 25 metro areas in the country for both short-term and year-round particle pollution (20th worst and 14th worst respectively), but improved significantly for ozone pollution,
receiving its first overall passing mark of ‘C’ (up from ‘F’ last year).

“As we can see from this year’s report data, there is much work to be done in the Pittsburgh metro area to improve our air quality,” said Kevin Stewart, Director, Environmental Health for the Lung Association. “Even one poor air quality day is one too many for our residents at highest risk, such as children, older adults, pregnant women and those living with chronic disease. "

In response to the study, the Allegheny County Health Department said that the county's air quality has improved significantly over the past several decades. While the study stated that Allegheny County is one of the most polluted places to live in the country "over the past decade,

Allegheny County has experienced an 80 percent reduction in hazardous air pollutants and a 32 percent reduction in fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution," a health department release stated.