Nashville, TN Air Quality IMPROVED, Finds American Lung Association's 2015 'State of the Air' Report

NASHVILLE TN (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 Nashville ranked as the 31st-most polluted city in the nation for ozone, an improved ranking from last year's report.

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

"Davidson County 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 Nashvillians to breathe," said Heather Wehrheim; Advocacy Director for American Lung Association of Tennessee.

"We can thank cleaner diesel fleets and cleaner power plants for the continued reduction of year-round particle pollution. However, a large number of unhealthy days of high ozone continues to be a struggle for our community, especially for those with lung disease, like asthma or COPD," said 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 to protect the health of our citizens."

Tennessee lacks some key information this year, preventing the residents of Nashville from knowing how much risk they face from particle pollution, a pollutant that causes lung cancer and premature death. Particle pollution data for almost all of Tennessee are missing because of problems processing the data. Nashville has had unhealthy levels of particle pollution in the past. This experience of missing data highlights the need for better support and expanded coverage of air quality monitors across the nation.

"State of the Air 2015" also finds that Nashville's ozone levels improved, but still resulted in an F grade in Davidson, Co. where the peak levels from 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 Nashville'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 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).