Pittsburgh Metro Area Ranks Most Polluted in Mid-Atlantic Region for Daily and Year-Round Particle Pollution; 19th Worst in U.S. for Annual Particle Pollution; 3rd Worst in Mid-Atlantic for Ozone Smog

The Pittsburgh-New Castle-Weirton, PA-OH-WV metro area was named one of the worst cities in the nation for year-round particle pollution (though it set its best-ever record for the measure) according to the American Lung Association’s 2024 “State of the Air” report, released today. However, for the first time, as wildfires worsen air quality in the western, U.S., the Pittsburgh metro area no longer ranks among the worst 25 metro areas in the nation for daily particle pollution. While this reflects an improvement for the area’s ranking, it has posted a smaller number of unhealthy days in past reports and continues to earn a failing grade in this report. 

The Lung Association’s 25th annual “State of the Air” report grades 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 includes air quality data from 2020-2022 and is updated to reflect the new annual particle pollution standard that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized in February.

“In the 25 years that the American Lung Association has been doing our ‘State of the Air’ report, we have seen incredible improvement in our nation’s air quality. Unfortunately, more than 131 million people still live in places with unhealthy levels of air pollution, and the Pittsburgh Metro Area is listed as one of the worst places for particle pollution,” said Kevin Stewart, Director of Environmental Health for the American Lung Association. “Climate change is making air pollution more likely to form and more difficult to clean up, so there are actions we can and must take to improve air quality in Pennsylvania, including adopting zero-emission standards for passenger vehicles and heavy-duty trucks. We are also calling on EPA to set long-overdue stronger national limits on ozone pollution.”

Ground-level Ozone Pollution in the Pittsburgh metro area:

The “State of the Air” report looked at levels of ozone “smog,” the air pollutant affecting the largest number of people in the United States. The Pittsburgh metro area ranked 50th worst in the nation for ozone pollution. It was ranked third worst in the Mid-Atlantic (defined for this report as DC, DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA, WV) with the the Philadelphia-Reading-Camden metro area ranking first and the Washington-Baltimore- Arlington ranking second worst for the measure. The ranking was based on the area’s worst county’s average number of unhealthy days—2.7 days per year, a D grade, in Allegheny County, PA. This was worse than the area's ranking in last year's report of 54th worst, with 2 days per year, a C grade. 

Particle Pollution in the Pittsburgh metro area:

The report also tracked short-term spikes in particle pollution, which can be extremely dangerous and even deadly. The Pittsburgh metro area ranked 26th worst in the nation for short-term particle pollution and worst in the Mid-Atlantic region. The ranking was based on the area’s worst county’s average number of unhealthy days—7 days per year, an F grade, in Allegheny County, PA. This was better than the area's ranking in last year's report of 20th worst, with 8.2 days per year, also an F grade. 

For the year-round average level of particle pollution, the area’s worst county, Allegheny, PA received a failing grade for a pollution level of 10.9 micrograms per cubic meter—worse than the 9 micrograms per cubic meter federal standard, according to the recent update by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. This resulted in the Pittsburgh metro area ranking 19th worst in the nation and worst in the Mid-Atlantic region. This was better than the area's ranking in last year's report of 14th worst for its long-term average of 11.2 micrograms per cubic meter, which had earned a passing grade under the previous weaker standard. 

In addition to the Pittsburgh-New Castle-Weirton, PA-OH-WV metro area metro area, other notable findings across the Mid-Atlantic area include:

• For the first time ever, with the improvement to an A grade for ozone smog, Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol, TV-VA metro area ranked among the cleanest cities in the nation for all three pollutant measures.
• The Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro area improved for all three pollutant measures in this year’s report, including setting new record best-ever values for ozone smog and year-round particle pollution. Despite improvement in ozone, the metro area still earns a failing grade and is now worst-ranked in the M-Atlantic region for ozone smog.
• Erie-Meadville, PA metro area ranked among the cleanest cities in the nation for ozone smog for a third consecutive year and its eighth year in a row for the daily measure of particle pollution.

The “State of the Air” report found that nationally, more than 131 million people live in an area that received a failing grade for at least one measure of air pollution, and 43.9 million people live in areas with failing grades for all three measures. In the three years covered by this report, individuals in the U.S. experienced the highest number of days when particle pollution reached “very unhealthy” and “hazardous” levels in the history of reporting the “State of the Air.” Communities of color are disproportionately exposed to unhealthy air and are also more likely to be living with one or more chronic conditions that make them more vulnerable to air pollution, including asthma, diabetes and heart disease. The report found that a person of color in the U.S. is more than twice as likely as a white individual to live in a community with a failing grade on all three pollution measures.

Both ozone and particle pollution can cause premature death and other serious health effects such as asthma attacks, heart attacks, strokes, preterm births and impaired cognitive functioning later in life. Particle pollution can also cause lung cancer.

EPA recently finalized new air pollution rules that will help clean up particle pollution and address climate change. Now, the Lung Association is urging EPA to set long overdue stronger national limits on ozone pollution. Stronger limits would help people protect themselves and drive cleanup of polluting sources across the country. See the full report results and sign the petition at Lung.org/SOTA.

Get involved and help the mission of American Lung Association. The LUNG FORCE Walk in Pittsburgh is coming up this weekend on April 27, 2024. Learn more at LUNGFORCE.org/Pittsburgh.