The American Lung Association’s 2019 “State of the Air” report found that the four-county Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ metro area showed modest improvement in two

measures of fine particle pollution compared to last year’s report, achieving its best ever results (both passing grades), and continuing to meet the national long-term air quality standard. But the report also found that the metro area had the same highest number of days with unhealthy levels of ozone smog, for which its worst grade continued to be an “F”.

The area is ranked between 50th and 60th worst in the country for all three measures of air pollution (ozone smog and daily and year-round particle pollution) considered. In all three cases, it was Northampton County that posted the worst results.

The 20th annual air quality “report card” tracks Americans’ exposure to unhealthful levels of ozone and particle pollution, both of which can be deadly. The metro area had been part of the much larger New York-Newark NY-NJ-CT-PA metro area between 2014 and 2018, but it is once again separate, as federal designations have changed.

“Area residents should be aware that we’re breathing unhealthy air, driven by local emissions, upwind sources, and extreme heat as a result of climate change, placing our health and lives at risk,” said Kevin Stewart, the American Lung Association’s director of environmental health for advocacy and public policy. “In addition to challenges here in the Lehigh Valley and beyond, the 20th-anniversary ‘State of the Air’ report highlights that more than 4 in 10 Americans are living with unhealthy air, and we’re heading in the wrong direction when it comes to protecting public health.”

While the report examined data from 2015-2017, this 20th annual report provides information on air pollution trends back to the first report.

Learn more about rankings for the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton metro area, as well as air quality across area states and the nation, in the 2019 “State of the Air” report at www.Lung.org/SOTA

Contributed article