New Report: Over One Million Children in NY State Are Breathing Some of the Most Polluted Air in the Country; New York-Newark Metro Area Sees Worsening Ozone Smog, Particle Pollution Improves for Both

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 1,106,290 kids in New York. In the New York–Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA metro area, results were mixed with ozone smog worsening, now ranking 12th worst in the nation with a continued F grade (down from 16th worst last year). In contrast, year-round fine particle pollution posted its best-ever result, improving to a passing grade (78th worst, improved from 48th), and daily particle pollution improved from an F to a D, ranking 69th worst nationally (compared to 58th worst last year).

The Lung Association’s “State of the Air” report grades counties’ air quality in terms of unhealthy levels of ground-level ozone air pollution (also known as smog), and year-round and short-term spikes in particle pollution (also known as soot) over a three-year period (2022-2024). The report also ranks counties and metropolitan areas in cleanest and most polluted lists for each pollutant. Ozone and particle pollution can cause premature death and other serious health effects such as asthma attacks, heart attacks and strokes, preterm births and impaired cognitive functioning later in life. Particle pollution can also cause lung cancer.

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 New York. Children deserve to breathe air that won’t make them sick,” said Michael Seilback, assistant vice president of nationwide advocacy and state public policy for the American Lung Association. “Unfortunately, too many people in the New York 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.” 

Seilback added: “To compound the issue further, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) rollbacks of critical healthy air rules are impacting our residents.  We urge New York policymakers to take action to improve our air quality, including ensuring the original benchmarks of New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) are achieved and we also are calling on everyone to tell EPA that our kids’ health counts.”

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.

Key Findings for New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA metro area:
Ground-level Ozone Pollution: 
Ozone “smog” affects the largest number of people in the U.S. Smog forms when gases from tailpipes, smokestacks, factories and other pollution sources react with sunlight. It is a powerful respiratory irritant with effects that have been likened to a sunburn of the lungs.  

• The New York metro area ranked 12th worst in the nation for ozone pollution.
  • The ranking was based on the area’s worst county’s average number of unhealthy days—21.2 days per year, an F grade, in Fairfield County, Connecticut.
  • This was worse than the area's ranking in last year's report of 16th worst, with 20.2 days per year, an F grade.  
  • Suffolk County on Long Island, once again received the worst grade in New York State for ozone pollution.

Particle Pollution: 
Fine particle pollution can be extremely dangerous and even deadly. These particles come from wildfires, wood-burning stoves, coal-fired power plants, diesel engines and other sources. The report has two grades for particle pollution: one for “short-term” particle pollution, or daily spikes, and one for the annual average “year-round” level that represents the concentration of particles in each location.

• The New York metro area ranked 69th worst in the nation for short-term particle pollution.
  • The ranking was based on the area’s worst county’s average number of unhealthy days—2.8 days per year, a D grade, in Queens County, New York.
  • This was better than the area's ranking in last year's report of 58th worst, with 3.3 days per year, an F grade.  
• For the year-round average level of particle pollution, the area’s worst counties, Mercer County (last year was incomplete) and Union County (last year failed), New Jersey, received passing grades for the same average pollution levels below the federal standard. 
  • The New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA metro area ranked 78th worst in the nation.
  • This was better than the area's ranking in last year's report of 48th worst in the nation. 

In addition to the results for the New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA metro area, other notable findings in New York and nearby include: 

• Albany-Schenectady, NY metro area: A study in contrasts: The region matched last year’s report for its best‑ever year‑round average for fine particle pollution, earning a passing grade despite slipping to 171st worst nationally from 180th last year, while simultaneously matching last year’s worst‑ever result for short‑term particle pollution, ranking 69th worst and earning a D grade, worse than 73rd last year. The metro area remained unchanged for the measure of ozone smog, and again earned a B grade, with the area ranking 143rd worst in the nation, slightly worse than 149th last year, underscoring mixed progress and persistent air quality challenges. 
• The Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Olean, NY metro area earned passing grades for all air quality results. While the measure for ozone smog remained unchanged (earning a B grade), the area’s rank worsened, now at 143rd worst in the nation, down from 149th worst last year. Meanwhile, the area’s year-round average of fine particle pollution improved slightly, as did its rank. The short-term measure of particle pollution remained unchanged (earning a C grade), though the area’s rank worsened. The last time the metro area posted a worse value for the daily measure of particle pollution was 15 years ago
• Out of New Jersey’s 21 counties, the New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA metro area includes 13 of them in the northern part of the state, of which two, Mercer and Union, are tied for worst in that four-state metro area for the year-round average level of fine particle pollution. Seven counties in southern New Jersey are part of the Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro area, in which Gloucester County tied with Philadelphia County, PA for worst for ozone smog, posting a weighted average of 6.2 unhealthy days per year for that pollutant. Except for residents of Warren County, all New Jerseyans live in a metro area ranking among the nation’s worst 25 for a pollutant measure—12th worst for ozone in northern New Jersey, and 17th worst for the year-round average of fine particle pollution in southern New Jersey.
• The New Haven-Hartford-Waterbury, CT metro area worsened for ozone smog, again posting a failing grade (for 9.5 unhealthy days per year in New Haven County), but its rank improved slightly from 27th worst to 29th. In contrast, the area recorded its best-ever and passing mark for the year-round measure of fine particle pollution (with Hartford and New Haven Counties tying), with its rank improving from 155th to 168th worst; and the daily measure improved from an F and 58th worst to a D grade (with Litchfield and New Haven Counties tying with 2.3 unhealthy days per year) and 82nd worst.

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.

Get involved and help the mission of American Lung Association. The LUNG FORCE Walk New York City is coming up on May 16, 2026. Learn more at LUNGFORCEWalk.org/nyc.