Indiana’s Air Quality Slowly Improving

(April 27, 2011)—

State of the Air report card shows fewer days of unhealthy levels of pollution

The American Lung Association in Indiana’s annual report card on air quality is in and, while many counties in Indiana’s grades remain the same, the numbers show improvement.  The 2011 State Of The Air report gives Marion County a passing grade for annual levels of particle pollution and shows a 20% decrease in high ozone days and a 40% decrease in high particle pollution days.

“National efforts to reduce pollution in the country are working,” says Alison Martin, Executive Director of the American Lung Association in Indiana. “Converting fleets of buses and trucks to low-emissions vehicles and switching to cleaner burning fuels has brought some much needed improvements to air quality.”

The American Lung Association’s State Of The Air report gives “A,” “B,” “C,” “D” and “F” grades for air quality in the 35 Indiana counties with enough data to be scored. The report is based on data collected and confirmed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency during the years 2007-2009.

Individuals can do their part to protect our air by driving less, walking, biking, carpooling or using public transit.  They can use less electricity by turning off the lights when they’re not in the room, refraining from burning wood or trash and encouraging their local school systems to use clean school buses.

To learn how your community ranks in State of the Air 2011 visit  www.stateoftheair.org. For the first time, people can compare the findings for different metropolitan areas online.