Westporters, the air you breathe is among the worst in the country and puts residents at risk for premature death.
That’s the conclusion of the American Lung Association’s 2018 “State of the Air” report released today.
It found Connecticut’s air quality ranked among the worst of any area east of the Mississippi River.
Fairfield County, where ozone is measured at Westport’s Sherwood Island State Park among other places, ranked as the 19th most ozone-polluted county in the country.
It was the only one in the list of 25 most ozone-polluted counties not in the western states.
Of the eight Connecticut counties monitored, seven, including Fairfield County, received failing grades for ozone and one received a D grade.
“Unhealthful levels of ozone found throughout Connecticut put our residents at risk for premature death and other serious health effects,” said Jeff Seyler, chief division officer of American Lung Association.
These include asthma attacks and greater difficulty breathing for those living with a lung disease like COPD.
Compared to the 2017 report, Litchfield, Middlesex, New Haven, New London, and Windham counties all experienced more high ozone days, the Association said.
Fairfield experienced the same amount, but had a higher weighted average of ozone from 2014-2016. Only Tolland County reported less high ozone days for the 2018 report.
The 2018 report also found year-round particle pollution levels slightly lower in New Haven and Hartford, but slightly higher in Fairfield than the 2017 report.
More details are available at http://www.Lung.org/sota.
