SALT LAKE CITY, UT | April 18, 2023
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.
“As this year’s report makes clear, there is much work to be done in Utah and across the country to improve our air quality,” said Nick Torres, advocacy director for the Lung Association. “Even one poor air quality day is one too many for our residents at highest risk, such as children, older adults, those who are pregnant and those living with chronic disease. That’s why we are calling on lawmakers at the local, state and federal levels to take action to ensure that everyone has clean air to breathe.”
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 failing grades for all three measures.
Ground-level Ozone Pollution in Utah
Compared to the 2022 report, Salt Lake City experienced more unhealthy days of high ozone in this year’s report, and the city retained its rank as the 10th most polluted city for ozone pollution nationally. Levels shifted slightly in the region as Box Elder, Utah, and Weber counties each saw fewer unhealthy ozone days on average, while Davis and Tooele counties experienced more unhealthy days.
Uintah County and Duchesne County each showed improvements over last year’s report, but still earned Fs.
Particle Pollution in Utah
The report also tracked short-term spikes in particle pollution, which can be extremely dangerous and even deadly. Salt Lake City’s short-term particle pollution got worse in this year’s report, which means there were more unhealthy days. The area is ranked 19th worst for short-term particle pollution, one spot worse than in last year’s report. Utah County once again received an F grade for short-term particle pollution, but saw significant improvements as average unhealthy days declined to 4.7 from 8.0 in last year’s report. Weber County experienced more unhealthy days but was the only county in the region to earn a passing grade in “State of the Air” 2023. Davis and Tooele counties’ grades each fell from a D to an F in this year’s report.
Particle pollution in Logan also got worse in this year’s “State of the Air” report as the city again ranked among the 25 most polluted cities nationally for short-term particle pollution. Logan experienced more unhealthy days on average and moved from 18th in last year’s report to 17th this year.
The 2023 “State of the Air” found that year-round particle pollution levels in Salt Lake County were significantly higher than in last year’s report, after reporting its lowest-ever levels in each of the past two “State of the Air” reports.
St. George once again earned a spot among the cleanest cities for annual particle pollution levels, landing at #7, but dropped off the cleanest cities list for short-term particle pollution.
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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