Green Jersey

New Jersey’s bad air

This year, for the 10th consecutive year, New Jersey’s air was given failing grades by the American Lung Association. The organization released its State of the Air report yesterday, ranking our air among the nation’s worst and reminding us all that yes, that stuff we’re smelling (and sometimes not smelling) is with us and in many cases doing us harm. And we’re not alone — according to the report, 6 in 10 Americans live in areas where air pollution is endangering their lives.

Some sunnier context: Air pollution levels have gone down overall in the last 10 years, nationwide, according to the group. The Lung Association says that life expectancy in 51 U.S. cities has increased by five months on average thanks to a drop in particle pollution between 1980 and 2000.

However, the air in many cities was reportedly dirtier than it was the year before. Long-term exposure to air pollution, especially from highway traffic, says the group, has been shown to cause numerous health problems and shorten lives.

South Jersey was ranked 16th along with the Philadelphia region on a list of “25 Most Ozone-Polluted” cities in this year’s report, and North Jersey and the New York City area came in 17th. North Jersey and the New York City area also got the rank of 22 on the list of the “25 U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Year-Round Particle Pollution.”

Check the report site, stateoftheair.org, for other categories and information by county.

The Lung Association says you can help improve your county’s air by driving less, using less electricity and supporting measures in your community to cut air pollution; also urge local and state officials to act. They also recommend sending an e-mail to the EPA to tell them we need tighter, more protective ozone and particle pollution standards.

In the report, the Lung Association points out that some of the biggest sources of air pollution also contribute to global warming.