BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Air quality in the Lehigh Valley isn’t getting better — it's actually gotten a little worse, according to the American Lung Association.
The Allentown-Bethlehem-East Stroudsburg, PA-NJ metro area, which includes the Lehigh Valley, received a "F" grade for daily particle pollution, according to the American Lung Association’s “State of the Air” report, released Wednesday.
The region was designated 50th most polluted in the nation for daily particle pollution, causing the grade drop from last year’s “C.”
But there was improvement for year-round particle pollution; in thatcategory, the region ranked 105th worst in the United Stats, better than last year’s ranking, at 84th.
“Both ozone and particle pollution can lead to premature death and cause serious health issues such as asthma attacks, heart attacks, strokes, preterm births and even problems with cognitive function later in life."Elizabeth Hensil, the American Lung Association’s Pennsylvania director of advocacy
"The air pollutants highlighted in this report are widespread and pose a risk to everyone’s health,” Elizabeth Hensil, the American Lung Association’s Pennsylvania director of advocacy, said in a news release.
“Both ozone and particle pollution can lead to premature death and cause serious health issues such as asthma attacks, heart attacks, strokes, preterm births and even problems with cognitive function later in life.
“Particle pollution can also increase the risk of lung cancer.”
‘People breathing unhealthy air’
The “State of the Air” report, in its 26th year, grades exposure to unhealthy levels of ground-level ozone air pollution year-round and short-term spikes in particle pollution.
This iteration looked at 2021-23.
Nationally, researchers found about half of all Americans, 46% or 156.1 million people, are living in places that get failing grades for unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution.
Fine particle pollution often is invisible to the naked eye, but are made up of a mix of chemicals that can get deep into the lungs and can cause health problems.
“This is nearly 25 million more people breathing unhealthy air compared to last year’s report, and more than in any other ‘State of the Air’ report in the last 10 years,” officials said.
The worsening of the Allentown-Bethlehem-East Stroudsburg, PA-NJ metro area’s daily particle pollution was attributed to wildfire smoke.
In early June of 2023, wildfire smoke blew in from Canada, giving the region some of the worst air outdoor quality in the nation and making air purifiers hard to find.
Longterm impacts to the Valley’s water and crops remains an area of research.
Ranking categories
Rankings are broken into three categories, including one for ground-level ozone pollution, or smog, and another for particle pollution, further classified into short-term and year-round.
Both are “based on the area’s worst county’s average number of unhealthy days,” officials said.
“Sadly, too many people in the metro area are living with dangerous levels of ozone and particle pollution."Elizabeth Hensil, the American Lung Association’s Pennsylvania director of advocacy
For the Valley, the worst county under two categories was Northampton.
Northampton County saw 1.8 unhealthy days per year, a C grade, for smog, according to the report. The county saw 3.8 days per year, an F grade, for short-term particle pollution.
However, the area’s worst county for year-round average level of particle pollution was Warren County, New Jersey.
“Sadly, too many people in the metro area are living with dangerous levels of ozone and particle pollution,” Hensil said.
“This pollution is making kids have asthma attacks, causing people who work outdoors to get sick and unable to work, and even contributing to low birth weight in babies.
“We’re urging Pennsylvania policymakers to take action to improve our air quality. We’re also calling on everyone to support the vital work of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.”
