New Report: Nearly 1.2 Million Kids in Pennsylvania are Breathing Unhealthy Levels of Air Pollution; Philadelphia Metro Area Fails All Three Ozone and Particle Pollution Measures

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 1,176,798 kids in Pennsylvania. The report also shows that air quality in the Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro area continues to fail, earning, F grades for ozone smog, daily and year-round particle pollution. While the region remains graded straight F’s for all three measures, year-round fine particle pollution worsened compared to last year, moving from 26th worst in the nation to 17th worst, increasing residents’ exposure to unhealthy air.

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. Both 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 Pennsylvania. Children deserve to breathe air that won’t make them sick,” said Elizabeth Hensil, director of advocacy for the American Lung Association. “Unfortunately, too many people in the Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD 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.” 

Hensil 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 Pennsylvania policymakers to take action to improve our air quality and we 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 Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD 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 Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro area ranked 43rd worst in the nation for ozone pollution.
  • The ranking was based on the area’s worst counties’ average number of unhealthy days—6.2 days per year, an F grade, in Gloucester County, New Jersey and Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.
  • The ranking was the same as the area's ranking in last year's report of 43rd worst, but the new average was slightly better than last year’s average of 6.3 days per year, an F grade.  

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 Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro area ranked 27th 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—5.3 days per year, an F grade, in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.
  • This was worse than the area's ranking in last year's report of 30th worst, even though the new result improved from last year’s value of 5.8 days per year, an F grade.  
• For the year-round average level of particle pollution, the area’s worst county, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, received a failing grade for pollution levels above the federal standard. 
  • The Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro area ranked 17th worst in the nation.
  • This was worse than the area's ranking in last year's report of 26th worst in the nation. 

In addition to results for the Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro area, other notable findings across Pennsylvania include: 

• The Harrisburg-York-Lebanon, PA metro area improved for year-round particle pollution but still earned a failing grade. Ozone pollution worsened, shifting from a D grade and 79th worst in the nation last year to an F grade and 76th worst this year. Daily particle pollution maintained an F grade and worsened in national ranking, moving from 44th to 34th worst in the nation.
• Allentown-Bethlehem-East Stroudsburg, PA-NJ metro area showed its best‑ever performance for year‑round particle pollution, improving from 103rd to 110th worst nationally and continuing to earn a passing grade. Daily particle pollution remains an F despite a slight ranking improvement (50th to 52nd worst), while ozone pollution also improved (105th to 125th worst) but continues to receive only a C grade. 
• The Pittsburgh-Weirton-Steubenville, PA-OH-WV metro area received straight failing grades for air quality, with ozone worsening from a D to an F, falling from 90th to 63rd worst nationally; while year‑round fine particle pollution improved to its best‑ever level, shifting from 12th to 16th worst, and still earning a failing grade. Daily particle pollution also remained an F, despite some improvement, worsening in rank from 16th to 11th worst, continuing to expose residents to unhealthy air.

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 in Philadelphia is coming up on May 30, 2026. Learn more at LUNGFORCEWalk,org/philadelphia.