Press Releases | American Lung Association

MISSOULA, MT | April 18, 2023

The American Lung Association’s 24th annual “State of the Air” report highlights that despite decades of strong progress in cleaning the air, Montanans still face harmful levels of air pollution.

“As a nation, we have made real progress cleaning up our air, but there is much work to be done to ensure every American, and every Montanan, has clean, healthy air to breathe,” said Carrie Nyssen, Senior Director of Advocacy for the American Lung Association. “Even one poor air quality day is one too many for children, older adults, people with chronic illnesses and others more vulnerable including lower-income residents and people of color. Policy makers at the local, state, and federal levels must act to ensure that everyone has clean air to breathe, and no community is left behind.”

Missoula’s air quality has worsened since last year’s report, according to the American Lung Association’s 2023 “State of the Air” report, which was released today. Missoula ranked #15 most polluted for short-term particle pollution and #51 most polluted for year-round particles. The number of high particle pollution days more than doubled in this year’s report.

Eleven counties (Fergus, Flathead, Gallatin, Lewis and Clark, Lincoln, Missoula, Powder River, Ravalli, Rosebud, Silver Bow and Yellowstone) receive an F grade for short-term particle pollution and Lincoln County also receives an F grade for annual particles. All counties with monitors receive a passing grade for ozone pollution.

The Lung Association’s 24th annual “State of the Air” report grades Americans’ 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 covers 2019-2021.

Nationally, the report found that ozone pollution has generally improved across the nation, thanks in large part to the success of the Clean Air Act. However, more work remains to fully clean up harmful pollution, and short-term particle pollution continues to get worse. In addition, some communities bear a greater burden of air pollution. Out of the nearly 120 million people who live in areas with unhealthy air quality, a disproportionate number – more than 64 million (54%) – are people of color. In fact, people of color were 64% more likely than white people to live in a county with a failing grade for at least one measure, and 3.7 times as likely to live in a county with a failing grade for all three measures.

The American Lung Association is calling on President Biden to urgently move forward on several measures to clean up air pollution nationwide, including new pollution limits on ozone and particle pollution and new measures to clean up power plants and vehicles. See the full report results and sign the petition at Lung.org/SOTA.

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About the American Lung Association

The American Lung Association is the leading organization working to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease through education, advocacy and research. The work of the American Lung Association is focused on four strategic imperatives: to defeat lung cancer; to champion clean air for all; to improve the quality of life for those with lung disease and their families; and to create a tobacco-free future. For more information about the American Lung Association, which has a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator and is a Platinum-Level GuideStar Member, call 1-800-LUNGUSA (1-800-586-4872) or visit: Lung.org. To support the work of the American Lung Association, find a local event at Lung.org/events.

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