Air quality in the Pittsburgh region is the 16th worst in the country, according to a new study. The American Lung Association (ALA) issued its annual “State of the Air” report Wednesday, which found that 46% of Americans are living in places that get failing grades for air quality, despite decades of efforts to reduce sources of air pollution.
“Extreme heat, drought and wildfires are contributing to worsening levels of air pollution across much of the U.S., exposing a growing proportion of the population to ozone and particle pollution that put their health at risk,” the ALA said.
The report compiles data from the Environmental Protection Agency between 2021 and 2023 to determine which metro areas had the highest levels of pollution based on the region’s worst daily air quality values.
The report ranks metro areas based on year-round averages for particle pollution as well as daily measures. The Pittsburgh area — which also includes Weirton, W. Va. and Steubenville, Ohio — ranked 16th worst for daily pollution measures and 12th worst for year-round average.
Exposure to fine particulate pollution has long-term health implications, including lung and heart diseases. Those with pre-existing conditions, older people and babies face higher risks of complications associated with pollution. And research has found that low-income families shoulder the brunt of health inequities from pollution.
Sources of pollution
While Allegheny County’s industrial facilities play a key role in the quality of air, emissions also come from vehicles and building construction, according to Kevin Stewart, ALA’s director of environmental health.
“It’s not a single-problem source, but we do know that industry is certainly historically a serious aspect of this,” he said. “We grade the quality of the air that people breathe, no matter the source of that air pollution.”
But ALA reports that climate change is driving another source of particle pollution: wildfires.
In recent years, the ALA has reported that the nation’s worst air quality concerns were concentrated in western states, where wildfires are more common. But in the most recent report, which included air quality data during the 2023 Canadian wildfires, pollution rankings shifted back East. Smoke from Canadian wildfires blanketed the Pittsburgh region that summer, prompting several “code red” air quality alerts from public health officials.
“The smoke from wildfires in Canada in 2023 certainly explains some of what we observed, but Allegheny County also received a failing grade for the daily levels of fine particle pollution in the 2020-2022 period, prior to the events of 2023, so there are clearly local sources that are important and remain to be fully addressed,” Stewart said.
While the report cites wildfires as a pollutant source, some local officials argue it doesn’t go far enough to hang Pittsburgh’s pollution problem on natural disasters.
Pushback against the annual report
Pittsburgh Works Together, a coalition of businesses, civic leaders and labor unions, issued a statement denouncing the report before it was released Tuesday. Pittsburgh Works argued the ALA’s grading criteria is stricter than the federal government’s standards and paints an inaccurate picture of the region’s air quality.
“The American Lung Association continues to release assessments of our region’s air quality based on their own metrics to achieve a predetermined outcome,” said Jeff Nobers, executive director of Pittsburgh Works Together.
Stewart said that the report graded an area based on the same EPA data, which he argues levels the playing field. Allegheny County’s high particle pollution days between 2021 and 2023 averaged 10.8, which earned the county a failing grade in the report.
“When an area gets 10 bad air days every year, that’s not a good sign that air pollution is adequately controlled because we know that the wildfires don’t account for all of those,” Stewart said in response to Pittsburgh Works Together’s statement.
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The Allegheny County Health Department also defended the region’s air quality, pointing to efforts made to clean it up. In a statement, spokesperson Ronnie Das noted that Allegheny County has been in compliance with federal air quality standards for the last three years.
“While we saw limited exceedances in ozone and hydrogen sulfide, the context is important — including the outsized impact of Canadian wildfire smoke and climate-driven events beyond [the county’s] control,” Das said.
But the health department admitted that their work to improve air quality is far from over.
“We know there is more to do, particularly in communities historically burdened by industrial emissions,” Das said. “As public health professionals, we share the same goal as the American Lung Association: a future where everyone breathes easier.”
Stewart said the ALA shared its findings with the health department prior to issuing the report. He cautioned that the association does “not grade the work of air pollution control agencies” like the health department. But he argued leaders should shore up the budgets of pollution control agencies to make them more effective.
“The authorities involved with controlling [industry polluters] need to be properly supported and funded in order to carry out their work so that they can make sure that people are breathing clean air.”
