EMBARGOED UNTIL:
5 a.m. (EDT), April 25, 2012
CONTACT: Deborah Brown
President & CEO dbrown@lunginfo.org
(610) 563-6992
Kevin M. Stewart
Director, Environmental Health
(717) 541-5864 x36 or
(717) 330-1790 (cell) kstewart@lunginfo.org
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Grades Mixed for Ozone and Daily Particle Pollution
Four Counties Post First “A’s” Under Current Standards: Greenbrier County for Ozone Pollution and Marion,
Ohio, and Raleigh Counties for Daily Particle Pollution
Editors’ Note: Trend charts and rankings for metropolitan areas and county grades are available at www.stateoftheair.org
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. [Embargoed Until: 5 a.m. (EDT), April 25, 2012] — The American Lung Association’s
State of the Air 2012 report finds that although the air quality throughout West Virginia has generally improved compared to last year’s report, and in fact was at its cleanest since the organization’s first annual report 12 years ago, the state continued to be represented among the most polluted metropolitan areas in the nation.
There were a number of remarkable findings pertaining to West Virginia in this year’s report: For the first time in the history of the State of the Air report, every one of the grades posted by the more than a dozen monitored counties in West Virginia were a passing grade, and in all but two cases represented an improvement in absolute terms for the air pollutant being measured.
Yet at the same time, because of even greater progress being made throughout the country in controlling annual average levels of fine particle pollution, West Virginia claimed seven of the 27 metro areas listed as

most polluted cities for year-round particle pollution in the country, even though their air quality was found to be passing the current standard, one the American Lung Association has stated is inadequate to protect public health. In a tie this year with Ohio for that state’s list of seven most poorly ranked metro areas (four of which are in both states), it is believed that this may be a record, albeit an unfortunate one.
Annual levels of fine particle pollution were high enough to place the following metro areas on the corresponding list of the 25 most polluted cities in the nation (shown with their national rank last year and this year):
 Weirton-Steubenville, WV-OH, staying at 12 th worst metro area (city)
 Charleston, WV, improving from 12 th to 17 th worst,
 Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH, improving from 15 th to 20 th worst,
 Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna, WV-OH, degrading in rank from 24 th to 20 th worst,
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Wheeling, WV-OH, joining the list at 20 th worst, having been ranked 34 th worst,
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Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV, improving from 20 th to 24 th worst, and
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Fairmont-Clarksburg, WV, degrading in rank from 28 th to 24 th worst.
In addition, it should be noted that the Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV combined statistical area, which includes Hampshire and Jefferson counties in West Virginia, was ranked 13 th worst in the nation among cities most polluted by ozone, and joined the list of 25 cities most polluted by short-term particle pollution, degrading in rank from 33 rd to 22 nd worst. Favorably, since Marshall County’s daily particle pollution level improved from an “F” (averaging 5.3 bad air days per year) to a “C” (1.7 days), the Wheeling metro area’s rank greatly improved from 24 th worst in last year’s report to 65 th worst in the current report.
With respect to remarkable findings for particular counties, it was seen that Cabell County, which was worst in the state in last year’s report for ozone pollution, and had received an “F” for its average of 9.3 bad air days per year, made a turnaround in this year’s report and posted a “B” for averaging 0.7 high ozone days per year, finishing among Greenbrier and Berkeley counties as the three cleanest in the state for ozone. Furthermore, four counties made the lists of cleanest counties for one of the three pollutant measures: Greenbrier County was the only county in the state to record zero bad air days for ozone over the years 2008 through 2010, the period during which data were collected for this report. Similarly, Marion, Ohio, and Raleigh counties achieved the same distinction for their levels of daily particle pollution, meeting the current standard for the first time.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Weirton-Steubenville metro area had the worst air quality in the state for all three measures of air pollution in the State of the Air report: Hancock County posted the only “D” for ozone, and Brooke County had the worst results for particle pollution—the state’s only “D” for the daily measure and the state’s highest concentration (13.7 micrograms per cubic meter) for the year-round average.
In other respects, the state’s results were clearly mixed:
 For ozone (smog), national ranks for four metro areas improved and for four others, got worse.
 For daily particle pollution (soot), national ranks for seven West Virginia metro areas improved, while three others took poorer positions on the list.

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For annual particle pollution, six improved, three worsened, and one metro area remained at the same ranking.
West Virginia counties among the 25 most polluted in the nation for year-round particle pollution were:
 Brooke County – ranked tied for 15 th with Jefferson County, Alabama
 Kanawha County – ranked tied for 23 rd with Muscogee County, Ga., Jefferson County, Ky., and
Montgomery County, Ohio
West Virginia continued its fortunate result, for the history of the State of the Air report, of having no counties ranked either among the 25 most polluted in the nation for ozone pollution, or among the 25 most polluted counties for short-term particle pollution.
For High Ozone Days, results were as follows:
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One county (Greenbrier) received a grade of “A.”
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Two counties (Berkeley and Cabell) received “B” grades.
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Four counties (Kanawha, Monongalia, Ohio, and Wood) received “C” grades.
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One county (Hancock) received a grade of “D.”
For High Particle Pollution Days, grades were:
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Three counties (Marion, Ohio, and Raleigh) received “A” grades.
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Four counties (Cabell, Harrison, Monongalia, and Wood) received “B” grades.
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Four counties (Berkeley, Hancock, Kanawha, and Marshall) received “C” grades.
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One county (Brooke) received a grade of “D.”
For Annual Average Particle Pollution:
 For the second consecutive year, all 12 counties with enough data to determine a grade (Berkeley,
Brooke, Cabell, Hancock, Harrison, Kanawha, Marion, Marshall, Monongalia, Ohio, Raleigh, and Wood) received “Pass” grades.
“State of the Air shows that we’re making steady progress in cutting dangerous pollution from the air as a result of cleanup efforts required under the Clean Air Act,” said Deb Brown, president and CEO of the
American Lung Association of the Mid-Atlantic. “But millions of Americans across the country, including the citizens of West Virginia, are still forced to breathe unhealthy levels of air pollution as a result of air quality standards that are outdated.”
The report details the trend that standards set under the Clean Air Act to cleanup major air pollution sources—including coal-fired power plants, diesel engines, and SUVs—are working to drastically cut ozone and particle pollution from the air. Despite the improvements, the job of cleaning the air is not finished. More than
40 percent of people in the United States live in areas where air pollution continues to threaten their health.
That means more than 127 million people are living in counties with dangerous levels of either ozone or particle pollution that can cause wheezing and coughing, asthma attacks, heart attacks, and premature death.
Those at greatest risk from air pollution include infants, children, older adults, anyone with lung diseases like asthma, people with heart disease or diabetes, people with low incomes and anyone who works or exercises outdoors.

“Particle pollution can be deadly,” said Kevin M. Stewart, director of environmental health of the American
Lung Association of the Mid-Atlantic. “When you breathe particle pollution, you are inhaling a toxic mix of chemicals, metals, aerosols, ash, and diesel exhaust. It can cause asthma attacks, heart attacks, strokes, emergency room visits and even premature death. There is absolutely no question regarding the need to protect public health from particle pollution.”
Ozone (smog), the most widespread air pollutant, is 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,” says Stewart. “It can cause immediate health problems and continue days later. Ozone can cause wheezing, coughing, asthma attacks and premature death.”
Although air quality improvements clearly result from standards put into place under the Clean Air Act, big polluters and some members of Congress continue to propose to dismantle the law. Recent proposals in the
Congress have included delaying implementation and blocking enforcement of parts of the law, and limiting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ability to consider all of the scientific evidence regarding the harm to public health. These challenges come despite EPA’s estimate that cutting air pollution through the
Clean Air Act will prevent at least 230,000 deaths and save $2 trillion annually by 2020.
“Dangerous and potentially deadly levels of smog and particle pollution continue to affect public health,” said
Brown. “Cleanups have resulted in healthier air to breathe in other parts of the country, but people in West
Virginia and more than 40 percent of our nation are still breathing dangerously polluted air. We must continue to fight for clean air and demand the full implementation of the Clean Air Act.”
The American people support the need for stricter limits on air pollution standards and the authority of the
EPA to enforce these standards. A recent bipartisan survey found that about two-thirds of voters (66 percent) favor the EPA updating air pollution standards by setting stricter limits. Nearly three quarters (73 percent) of voters believe the nation does not have to choose between air quality and a strong economy.
State of the Air 2012 grades cities and counties based, in part, on the color-coded Air Quality Index developed by the EPA to alert the public to daily unhealthy air conditions. The 13 th annual report uses the most recent, quality-controlled EPA data collected from 2008 through 2010 from official monitors for ozone and particle pollution, the two most widespread types of air pollution. Counties are graded for ozone, year-round particle pollution and short-term particle pollution levels. The report also uses EPA’s calculations for year-round particle levels.
The American Lung Association in West Virginia urges the public to join the fight for clean air and to learn how to protect themselves and their families from air pollution by visiting www.stateoftheair.org
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