Louisville/Jefferson County Air Quality IMPROVED, Finds American Lung Association's 2015 'State of the Air

LOUISVILLE KY (04/29/2015)(readMedia)-- Editor's Note: Trend charts and rankings for metropolitan areas and county grades are available at www.StateOfTheAir.org.

Embargoed Until: 12:01 a.m. (local time), April 29, 2015- The American Lung Association's "State of the Air 2015" report released today shows that Louisville ranked as the 28th most polluted city in the nation for ozone, an improved ranking over last year's report. Compared to the 2014 report, Louisville/Jefferson County has cut year-round particle pollution levels significantly. This is in keeping with a trend seen across the nation of lower particle pollution levels. Jefferson County has also experienced fewer unhealthy days of high ozone (smog) and fewer days when short-term particle pollution has reached unhealthy levels.

Nationwide, more than 4 in 10 Americans – nearly 138.5 million people – live in counties where ozone or particle pollution levels make the air unhealthy to breathe, according to "State of the Air 2015." The 16th annual national report card, which looks at air pollution data collected from 2011-2013, shows that improvement in the nation's air quality was mixed, with many cities experiencing strong improvements, while others suffered increased episodes of unhealthy air, and a few even marked their worst number of unhealthy days.

"Louisville can certainly be proud of the progress we've made in cleaning up our air since the first 'State of the Air' report 16 years ago. However, there's still a lot of work to be done to make our air healthy for all of us Kentuckians to breathe," said Heather Wehrheim, Advocacy Director for American Lung Association.

Today the American Lung Association in Kentucky is also announcing a $25,000 grant to a digital health program focused on asthma in Jefferson County.

AIR Louisville is making it easier for people with asthma to manage their symptoms. The effort also will help the city gather data about air quality and make smart decisions about how to improve air quality.

AIR Louisville is a collaboration between the Institute of Healthy Air Water and Soil, Propeller Health and the City of Louisville. The goal is to distribute sensors to people in Jefferson County who have asthma. Propeller Health's FDA-approved sensor fits on top of an inhaler and tracks when, where and how often a person takes a dose of medicine. Having an electronic record of this data helps individuals and their doctors spot asthma triggers.

Kentucky has the fourth highest rate of adult asthma in the US, and Louisville consistently ranks among the top 20 "most challenging" cities to live in with asthma.

This grant marks a new partnership between the American Lung Association in Kentucky and the Institute for Healthy Air Water and Soil. The two groups will work together to track air quality and help citizens – especially people living with breathing disorders - understand the link between health and air quality.

"We can thank cleaner diesel fleets and cleaner power plants for the continued reduction of year-round particle pollution. However, the increase in unhealthy days of high ozone and short-term particle pollution continues to be a struggle for our community, especially for those with lung disease, like asthma or COPD," said Heather Wehrheim. "Reducing pollution will only become more challenging because warmer temperatures increase the risk for ozone and particle pollution, and make cleaning up the air harder in the future. We need stronger air quality standards to limit pollution and continued cleanup of the current sources of pollution in Louisville, Kentucky to protect the health of our citizens."

The 2015 report shows that Jefferson County reduced its year-round particle pollution, although still receiving a failing grade. Jefferson County received an F for short-term particle pollution, because of too many days of unhealthy particle levels. Particle pollution levels can spike dangerously for hours to weeks on end (short-term) or remain at unhealthy levels on average every day (year-round). Particle pollution can penetrate deep into the lungs and even into the bloodstream, leading to premature deaths, asthma attacks and heart attacks, as well as lung cancer.

"State of the Air 2015" also finds that Louisville's ozone levels improved , but still resulted in an F grade in Jefferson County where the peak levels from the metro area are monitored. Ozone is the most widespread air pollutant, created by the reaction of sunlight on emissions from vehicles and other sources. When ozone is inhaled, it irritates the lungs, like a bad sunburn. It can cause immediate health problems and continue days later. Ozone can cause wheezing, coughing, asthma attacks and premature death.

"We know that the Clean Air Act works because we've seen Louisville's air quality improve over the past 16 years and seen the health benefits that have come with cleaning up the air," said Wehrheim.

"EPA must move forward to fully implement the Clean Air Act for all pollutants that threaten public health, including finalizing a strong Clean Power Plan to limit carbon pollution from power plants and set stronger ozone air quality standards. Congress must also ensure that the provisions under the Clean Air Act are protected, implemented and enforced. The EPA and every state must have adequate funding to monitor and protect our citizens from air pollution and new threats caused by increased temperatures."

More Safeguards Needed to Protect Health

The American Lung Association calls for several steps to safeguard the air everyone breathes:

• Strengthen the outdated ozone standards. The EPA must adopt an up-to-date ozone limit that follows the current health science and the law to protect human health. Strong standards will drive much needed cleanup of ozone pollution across the nation.

• Adopt a strong final Clean Power Plan. The EPA needs to issue tough final requirements to reduce carbon pollution from power plants.

• Protect the Clean Air Act. Congress needs to ensure that the protections under the Clean Air Act remain effective and enforced. States should not be allowed to "opt out" of Clean Air Act protections.

• Fund the work to provide healthy air. Congress needs to adequately fund the work of the EPA and the states to monitor and protect the nation from air pollution.

To see how your community ranks in "State of the Air 2015," to learn how to protect yourself and your family from air pollution, and to join the fight for healthy air, visit: www.StateOfTheAir.org.

Background

The American Lung Association "State of the Air 2015" report uses the most recent quality-assured air pollution data, collected by federal, state and local governments and tribes in 2011, 2012, and 2013. These data come from official monitors for the two most widespread types of pollution, ozone and particle pollution. The report grades counties, ranking cities and counties based on scores calculated by average number of unhealthy days (for ozone and for short-term particle pollution) and by annual averages (for year-round particle pollution).