New Report: Thousands of Alabama Children Are Breathing Dirty Air, Even As Two Cities Rank Among the Nation’s Cleanest

Today, the American Lung Association released its 27th annual “State of the Air” report, which finds that nearly half of the children in the U.S. are breathing unhealthy levels of air pollution, including some of the 150,703 kids in Alabama. According to the report, air quality in the Greater Birmingham area slightly worsened, leading to greater exposure to unhealthy ozone pollution for residents, and a ranking of 45th most polluted nationwide, with an F grade.

The Lung Association’s “State of the Air” report analyzes air quality data from 2022-2024 to grade counties on unhealthy levels of ozone (smog) and particle pollution (soot) and ranks counties and metro areas among the cleanest and most polluted. Both pollutants are linked to premature death and serious health impacts, including asthma attacks, heart disease, stroke, preterm birth, cognitive impairment, and lung cancer. 

For the Greater Birmingham area, the report finds: 

• Ground-level Ozone Pollution in the Birmingham-Cullman-Talladega metro area:
  • National Ranking: 46th out of 226 (54h worst in 2025 report)
  • Number of Unhealthy Days Per Year: 6 days per year (5 days per year in 2025 report)
  • Grade: F, Jefferson County, AL, worst in metro area (F in 2025 report)
• Short-term Particle Pollution in the Birmingham-Cullman-Talladega metro area:
  • National Ranking: 122nd worst out of 224 (156th worst in 2025 report)
  • Number of Unhealthy Days Per Year: 1.3 days per year (0.7 days per year in 2025 report)
  • Grade: C, Jefferson County, worst in metro area (B in 2025 report)
• Year-Round Average Level of Particle Pollution in the Birmingham-Cullman-Talladega metro area:
  • National Ranking: 38th worst out of 211 (34th worst in 2025 report)
  • Grade: Failing grade, pollution levels above the federal standard, Jefferson County worst in region

Nationally, the report found that 33.5 million children in the U.S., or 46% of people under 18 years old, live in an area that received a failing grade for at least one measure of air pollution. In total, 44% of people of all ages in the U.S. (152 million people in total) live in a county that received a failing grade for at least one measure of air pollution. 32.9 million people live in counties with failing grades for all three measures.

Infants, children and teens as a group are more susceptible to the health impacts of air pollution. Their lungs are still developing; they breathe more air for their body size than adults and they are frequently exposed to outdoor air. Air pollution exposure in childhood can cause long-term harm, including reduced lung growth, new asthma cases and increased risk of respiratory diseases.

“Clean air is essential to the health and wellbeing of families across Alabama. Children deserve to breathe air that won’t make them sick,” said Ashley Lyerly, senior director of advocacy for the American Lung Association. “Unfortunately, too many people in the Greater Birmingham metro area are living with unhealthy levels of ozone and particle pollution. This air pollution is causing kids to have asthma attacks, contributing to chronic health conditions, and making people who work outdoors sick.” 

Lyerly added: “To compound the issue further, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) rollbacks of critical healthy air rules are impacting our residents, and our state agencies are unable to respond to protect the health of Alabamians. During the 2026 legislation session, the Alabama Legislature passed Senate Bill 71 to impose restrictions on how our state agencies, especially the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, can regulate the air we breathe and the water we drink. We urge Alabama policymakers to take action to improve our air quality, including reinstating ADEM’s authority and we are calling on everyone to tell EPA that our kids’ health counts.”

Other notable findings across Alabama include: 

• Gadsden metro area ranks among the nation’s cleanest cities for ozone pollution, earning an A grade ozone and short-term particle pollution for the second year in a row. The area also received a passing grade for year-round particle pollution and is ranked 57th worst in the nation.
• Mobile-Daphne-Fairhope metro area ranks 169th worst nationally for ozone pollution, earning a B grade. The area is ranked among the cleanest cities nationally for short-term particle pollution, receiving an A grade for the second year in a row. For year-round pollution the metro area received a passing grade and is ranked 96th worst in the nation.
• Tuscaloosa metro area ranks among the nation’s cleanest cities for the second consecutive year, earning an A grade. The metro area ranks 154th worst in the nation for short-term particle pollution and received a B grade. The area received a passing grade for year-round particle pollution and is ranked 157th worst nationally. 

The Lung Association is calling on everyone to urge EPA to value the health of America’s kids. Historically, EPA has played an essential role in protecting people’s health from air pollution. The current EPA has retreated from its public health foundation by rolling back clean air protections. This EPA has also taken the recent step of eliminating health-related information from its economic analyses, meaning that the costs of pollution to kids, families and communities will not be counted as policies are undone. EPA must not devalue kids’ health.

See the full report results and take action at Lung.org/sota.