Almost half of U.S. exposed to dangerous levels of air pollution: report

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Increasing aerial contamination levels successful the U.S.

What's causing accrued aerial contamination levels successful the United States? 02:52

A caller study connected aerial prime crossed the United States offered a cloudy prognosis connected the semipermanent wellness of astir 156 cardinal residents who unrecorded successful areas that received an "F" successful smog and soot pollution.

The American Lung Association's yearly State of the Air report, which looked astatine the latest aerial prime information from 2021 to 2023, concluded that 25 cardinal much radical are breathing "unhealthy levels of aerial pollution" compared to past year. According to the report, astir 46% of radical successful the U.S. unrecorded successful an country that received a failing people successful astatine slightest 1 of the 3 measures that were studied: short-term particle pollution, year-round particle contamination and ozone pollution.

Since the Clean Air Act was signed into instrumentality successful 1970, emissions of the six astir communal aerial pollutants person fallen by 78%, according to the Environmental Protection Agency — but caller analyses amusement aerial contamination has been connected the emergence successful caller years.

"Since the enactment passed, the aerial contamination has gone down overall," Laura Kate Bender, an adjunct vice president astatine the American Lung Association, told CBS News. "The situation is that implicit the past fewer years, we're starting to spot it tick backmost up again and that's due to the fact that of clime change, successful part. Climate alteration is making immoderate of those conditions for wildfires and utmost vigor that thrust ozone contamination worse for a batch of the country."

The astir polluted and cleanest U.S. cities

For the sixth twelvemonth successful a row, Bakersfield, California, remained the metropolis with the worst year-round particle contamination and short-term particle pollution, according to the report. The concern metropolis — known for agriculture, mining and lipid refineries — besides ranked 3rd for worst precocious ozone days.

Conversely, the metropolis ranked archetypal successful the American Lung Association's apical 25 cleanest U.S. cities by year-round particle is Casper, Wyoming, which has little than 80,000 residents compared to Bakersfield's astir 914,000 population.

Here's the American Lung Association's latest database of the apical 10 cities with the worst year-round particle pollution:

Climate alteration and regulations rotation back

Prior years of reporting recovered that the worst of the nation's aerial quality was concentrated successful occidental states, but the caller study released Wednesday said the attraction of mediocre aerial has started to displacement east.

Extreme heat, deficiency of precipitation and wildfires associated with clime alteration proceed to play a increasing portion successful worsening the aerial prime crossed the U.S. and exposing a increasing proportionality of Americans to pollutants, the study said. It cited a 2023 deadly vigor wave and fume from Canada's worst wildfire season arsenic contributors to worsened levels of aerial contamination successful cardinal and eastbound states.

"I deliberation we knew that the wildfire fume would person an interaction connected aerial prime successful the United States," Kevin Stewart, the American Lung Association's biology wellness director, told CBS Philadelphia. "I deliberation we were amazed astatine the Lung Association by however beardown the effect was, particularly successful the northeastern quadrant of the continental United States."

Last month, the EPA announced it volition rotation back oregon alteration 31 biology rules and regulations, including revisions of nationalist aerial prime standards for particulate matter, emanation standards for concern aerial pollutants and regulations restricting conveyance emissions. The projected cuts are putting much than 5 decades of advancement astatine risk, Kate Bender said.

"Unfortunately, we spot that everything that makes our aerial prime amended is astatine risk," she said. "The EPA is astatine hazard — the bureau that is protecting our wellness — done staff cuts, backing cuts. The regulations that person cleaned up our aerial implicit clip are astatine hazard of being cut. If we spot each those cuts go reality, it's gonna person a existent interaction connected people's wellness by making the aerial they respire dirtier."

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin argued that the deregulation volition alternatively thrust "a dagger consecutive into the bosom of the clime alteration religion to thrust down outgo of surviving for American families, unleash American energy, bring car jobs backmost to the U.S. and more."

Zeldin told elder White House analogous Weijia Jiang connected "Face the Nation" that helium tin "absolutely" warrant that Trump medication deregulations won't person adverse wellness impacts connected radical and the environment.

What are the wellness effects of aerial pollution?

Both ozone and particle contamination tin origin a wide scope of wellness problems that pb to premature death, according to the American Lung Association. The effects of atrocious aerial prime person been extensively studied and shown to origin asthma and bosom attacks, strokes, lung crab and impaired cognitive relation aboriginal successful life.

"The aerial pollutants covered successful this study are wide and tin interaction anyone's health," Kezia Ofosu Atta, advocacy manager for the Lung Association successful Michigan, told CBS Detroit.

"This aerial contamination is causing kids to person asthma attacks, making radical who enactment outdoors sick and incapable to work, and starring to debased commencement value successful babies," Ofosu Atta said, who urged lawmakers to instrumentality enactment to amended the city's air, which ranked sixth successful the federation for year-round pollution.

The American Lung Association's study noted that Black radical are much similar to endure the superior wellness effects of aerial contamination owed to the agelong past of systemic racism successful the U.S., including segregation and decision-makers uncovering it easier to spot sources of contamination specified arsenic powerfulness plants, concern facilities, landfills and highways successful economically disadvantaged communities of color.

Jerod Dabne contributed reporting.