State of the Air Report 2011

Katie KingDirector, Health Promotion & Public PolicyAmerican Lung Association of New England

• Annual American Lung Association nationwide report on air pollution

• Gives A- F and Pass/Fail grades to 900 counties with monitors

• Provides data by county, state info by zip code• Ranks 25 metro areas with worst/least pollution

What is the State of the Air?

Why do we publish State of the Air?

• Puts air pollution into everyday language• Gives public local information• Focuses attention on ozone and particle pollution• Tells people how to protect themselves • Encourages and supports programs to cut pollution

and improve air quality

What We Grade• Ozone (O3)

• Particle pollution (PM2.5)– Short-term spikes (24-hour) – Year-round measures

(annual average)

Where ALA gets the data:

Once ALA gets the data:

What do the grades mean?

• A = 0 days with unhealthy levels over 3 years

• B = 1 to 2 unhealthy days

• C = 3 to 6 unhealthy days

• D= 7 to 9 unhealthy days

• F= 9 or more unhealthy days

Year-Round Particle Pollution

• No AQI exists to use as a scale• Graded Pass/Fail compared to

national standard of 15.0 μg/m3 • Use EPA’s calculation for each

county

15.1+ = Fail

15.0 or less= Pass

www.stateoftheair.org

• Type in zip code to get county grades

• Compare air quality in two cities

• Get rankings for every city

• Get trend charts for every city

Metro Area Trend charts show progress

Questions? Thank you!

Katie Kingkking@lungne.org

(781) 314-9011