State of our air: What you need to know about Jacksonville area's air quality

The Jacksonville metropolitan area was named one of the cleanest metropolitan areas in the country for ozone pollution, according to the American Lung Association.

The association’s 24th annual "State of the Air" report, which was released Wednesday, grades Americans’ exposure to ground-level ozone air pollution, short-term spikes in particle pollution and annual particle pollution over a three-year period.

This year’s report covers 2019-2021. Some of the rankings included are listed by metropolitan areas, others by cities or counties. Data is collected by official air pollution sites, but not every county is regularly monitored.

The metropolitan area stretching from Palatka to Jacksonville to St. Marys, Ga., which has about 1.8 million people, was among the 80 cities on the cleanest-city-for-ozone list. They are not ranked because all the metropolitan areas earned the same scores.

In county listings, Baker and Duval counties received "A" grades for having no "unhealthy" high-ozone level days. Data was not collected in other area counties for the 2019-2021 period.

"Jacksonville is one of the cleanest communities for ozone," said Ashley Lyerly, the association's senior director of advocacy for Florida.

She noted that it has overcome a "historical" reputation as one of the "most-polluted" cities in the country. In the first State of the Air report in 2000, Jacksonville earned an F because it had 15 days of bad ozone levels, tying for third-worst in Florida.

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"Here in Jacksonville and across the nation, we are seeing ozone pollution improving, thanks in big part to the success of the Clean Air Act,” Lyerly said.

Duval received a "B" grade in short-term spikes of particle pollution because of one day with minor fine particle pollution. The year-round particle pollution levels in Jacksonville were slightly higher than in last year’s report: Cities are given pass or fail grades and Duval received a passing grade.

The area is tied at 118th worst for short-term particle pollution and 89th most polluted for year-round particle pollution.

Why should we be concerned about ozone and fine particle pollution?

Ground-level ozone, also known as smog, comes from pollution emitted from cars, power plants, industrial boilers, refineries and chemical plants. It can also stem from paints, cleaners, solvents and motorized lawn equipment, according to the association.

Particle pollution is a mix of tiny solid and liquid particles that are in the air that come from construction sites, unpaved roads, smokestacks or wildfires. Also, they can come indirectly from atmospheric reactions involving chemicals such as sulfur dioxides and nitrogen oxides that are emitted from power plants, industries and automobiles.

Under the Clean Air Act, such pollution is monitored because it is a health hazard, particularly for people at risk for lung cancer and other respiratory conditions. "State of the Air" includes air quality data for ozone and fine particles, which are the "most widespread and dangerous air pollutants," according to the report.

Since the Clean Air Act was passed in 1970, reducing emissions from transportation, power plants andmanufacturing, outdoor air pollutants have fallen by 78%, according to the report. But there is more work to do, Lyerly said.

"Even one poor air quality day is one too many for our residents at highest risk," she said. "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.”

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Dr. Aakash Modi, an interventional pulmonologist at Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center in Jacksonville, is a member of the association's local leadership board.

He was pleased about the local and national air quality improvements. Government clean-air policies and community awareness have clearly made a difference, he said, but the vigilance must continue.

"With every breath of air that we take, our lungs behave as a filter of everything we breathe," he said. Smog and fine particle pollution can cause short- and long-term health impacts, from minor breathing difficulty to lung cancer, he said.

Anyone who takes high air quality for granted needs only to travel to see how bad it could be, Modi said. On a recent trip to Mexico, he said he could "actually feel the difference" when he landed there and when he returned to Florida.

Educating the public and its leaders is critical, he said. "Not just worrying about our county. We have to worry about our country," he said. "We must increase awareness by teaching about the topic."

What were the report's national findings?

That there are 80 clean cities on the ozone list is an improvement, compared to the 60 or so from the last report, report author Kevin Stewart said. Still, air pollution "continues to be a serious problem," he said.

∙ Nearly 36% of Americans, about 119.6 million people, live in communities that have failing grades for unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution. The good news: That's 17.6 million fewer people breathing unhealthy air compared to the last report. The bad news: About 63.7 million people still live in counties with failing grades for daily spikes in particle pollution, the most reported in the last 10 years.

And those numbers do not include the people whose communities have "bad air days here and there" that impact their health, Stewart, the association's director of environmental health, said.

∙ People of color are 41% of the total population, but make up about 54% of the nearly 119.6 million people living in counties with at least one failing grade. And in the counties with failing grades for all three pollution measures, 72% of the 18 million residents affected are people of color, compared to the 28% who are white.

∙ Climate change is hampering clean-air efforts, particularly in western states. The three years covered by the latest "State of the Air” report were among the seven hottest years on record globally. Heat, drought and wildfires sparked high ozone days and spikes in particle pollution.

Smoke from wildfires in western states can impact communities across the country, even as far as the mid-Atlantic states' air, Stewart said.

"The combination of policy-driven reductions in emissions on the one hand and climate change-fueled increases in pollution on the other hand is driving a widening disparity between air quality in eastern and western states, especially for particle pollution," according to the report. Of the 111 counties in 19 states that got "F" grades" for particle pollution, all but eight counties are in the western U.S.

What can we do to improve?

Here are some of the report's recommendations for action by individuals and governments:

Individuals

Reduce air pollution by walking, cycling and using public transportation instead of diesel of gas-powered vehicles, conserve electricity, obtain more efficient furnaces and refrain from burning leaves, trash or wood. If outdoor burning is necessary, it should be in small volumes, strictly monitored and not undertaken on days when authorities have issued air pollution cautions, Stewart said.

"We're not after people's picnic fires. Just keep them under control," he said.

Local governments

Reduce city- and county-wide emissions by encouraging walking, biking and transit; purchase zero-emission fleet vehicles, garbage and recycling trucks, transit buses, school buses and other vehicles; and obtain renewable, non-combustion electricity.

State governments

Set clean or renewable electricity standards that phase out the use of coal, oil, methane gas and other combustion energy sources in favor of wind, solar, geothermal and tidal and other noncombustion forms of electricity. Use federal Inflation Reduction Act funding to reduce emissions by reducing air pollution at ports, investing in zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles and infrastructure and improving air qualitymonitoring.

Federal government

Set strong emissions standards that transition cars and trucks to zero-emission vehicles and beef up standards for particulate matter and ozone.

"Not only will stronger standards drive cleanup of polluting sources nationwide, they will also mean thatfamilies across the country are better informed about when their local air quality mayput their health at risk," according to the report.

bcravey@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4109

STATE OF THE AIR

To read the full report, go to lung.org/research/sota. For more air pollution information about counties in the Jacksonville-St. Marys, Ga.-Palatka area, go to lung.org/research/sota/city-rankings/msas/jacksonville-st-marys-palatka-fl-ga#ozone.

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·       If the air quality in the Jacksonville metro area is unhealthy to breathe

·       Which residents in the Jacksonville metro area are most vulnerable

·       What actions residents and local, state and national leaders can take to improve air quality

WHERE: New findings from the “State of the Air” report will be live on Lung.org/SOTA following the launch. Embargoed report findings and embargoed interviews are available upon request prior to the report launch.

WHO: The following are available for media interviews on report findings and health impacts of air pollution:

·       Ashley Lyerly, Senior Director of Advocacy for Florida, American Lung Association

·       Local medical experts in the fields of lung and environmental health

·       Local storytellers who can share how air quality has impacted their health

HOW: To request embargoed report findings or an embargoed interview, contact Jill Smith at Jill.Smith@Lung.org at 704-818-4138.

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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, a holder of the coveted 4-star rating from Charity Navigator and a Platinum-Level GuideStar Member, or to support the work it does, call 1-800-LUNGUSA (1-800-586-4872) or visit: Lung.org.

American Lung Association • 55 W. Wacker Drive, Suite 1150 • Chicago, IL 60601

1331 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Ste. 1425 North • Washington, D.C. 200041-800-LUNGUSA (1-800-586-4872) Lung.org

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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville metro area among cleanest U.S. cities for ozone pollution