PM 2.5 Levels Over the National Ambient Air Quality Standard: Annual Percentage of Days With PM 2.5 Levels Over the National Ambient Air Quality Standard, 2017 to 2022
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Why Is This Important?
Air pollution has been associated with premature death; increased rates of hospitalization for respiratory and cardiovascular conditions; adverse birth outcomes; and lung cancer (Cannon 1990, Dockery and Pope 1994, Schwartz 1999). Particulate matter (PM) is the most costly and deadly component of air pollution. PM is released from burning coal and other fossil fuels as well as wildfires. Breathing in PM2.5 is associated with heart and lung diseases as well as nervous system, metabolic, reproductive, and developmental outcomes. In addition to annual health costs totaling an estimated $820 billion (2020 dollars), PM2.5 air pollution results in approximately 107,000 premature deaths annually (De Alwis and Limaye, 2021). Despite progress on reducing air pollution, more than 40% of the U.S. population (over 135 million Americans) live in counties with unhealthy air in the form of either ozone or particulate matter (American Lung Association, 2021). The burden of living in places with unhealthy air is not evenly distributed across the country: economically disadvantaged groups, some communities of color, immigrant groups, Indigenous people, children and pregnant persons, older adults, outdoor workers, persons with disabilities, and persons with chronic medical conditions are at higher risk of illness or death from breathing in unclean air (American Lung Association, 2021 and De Alwis and Limaye, 2021). This imbalance is the result of many factors, including the absence of affordable healthcare, systemic racism, historical inequitable land use, workplace risks, and the location of many polluting facilities in economically disadvantaged areas.
Definition
Annual percentage of days with PM2.5 levels over the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) of 35 mcg/m3.
Data Notes
Data for years 2017-2022. For clarity, we removed counties that did not have functional air monitors over this time period.Data Source
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Air Quality System Monitoring Data, State Air Monitoring Data.(http://www.epa.gov/air/data/aqsdb.html)
How the Measure is Calculated
Numerator:
Days in which a county exceeded the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) of 35 mcg/m3 for PM2.5.Denominator:
Varies by county and year. Number of days that samples were taken.