The American Lung Association State of the Air 2016 released recently found that the Sacramento region continues to make significant gains in reducing pollution, reporting fewer particle pollution days and the lowest ever unhealthy ozone days.

“The State of the Air 2016 report shows us that our clean air laws are working but we must increase our efforts to cut pollution that puts lives in our community at risk,” said Olivia J. (Gertz) Diaz-Lapham, President and CEO of the American Lung Association in California. “Pollution from petroleum fuels and other sources is harming our residents, contributing to the incidence of asthma and other chronic lung conditions. Air pollution costs our communities in health care spending, lost productivity, reduced quality and length of life.”

Covering air pollution data collected in 2012 to 2014, the report measures the two most widespread pollutants, ozone and particle pollution, which are dangerous to public health and can be deadly. Unhealthy ozone days have fallen by 53 percent, and unhealthy spikes in particle pollution have fallen by 76 percent over the course of the State of the Air.

Moreover, annual particle pollution levels have dropped by 23 percent. These improvements were driven by passenger vehicle and diesel emission controls, along with strong local wood burning restrictions. The Sacramento metropolitan region includes El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties.

Despite these improvements, more still needs to be done as all counties in the region except Yolo County received a failing grade for ozone pollution, and both Placer and Sacramento failed for daily particle pollution. Drought weather conditions, combined with ongoing traffic, diesel and wood smoke pollution contribute to high levels of pollution in the region.

Climate change is a growing threat to air quality in California. Drought weather conditions and wildfires related to climate change are contributing to elevated levels of particle pollution in the San Joaquin Valley and other areas of the state. Key sources of soot include wood burning devices, transportation sources such as diesel engines in trucks, buses and freight, and smoke from wildfires. These soot particles are so small that they can lodge deep in the lungs and trigger asthma attacks, heart attacks and strokes, and can even be lethal. In the Sacramento region, more than 200,000 residents have asthma, including 52,000 children.

“Sacramento continues to have air quality challenges but we are making progress in cleaning up the air. We know that climate change factors are contributing to increased levels of ozone and particle pollution, and will make it harder to meet federal health-based standards,” said David Tom Cooke, MD, Head of the UC Davis Section of General Thoracic Surgery and member of the Lung Association’s volunteer governing board. “Our most vulnerable loved ones, including children and seniors and those battling lung diseases such as lung cancer, asthma, chronic bronchitis, or emphysema, suffer the greatest. We must redouble our efforts to transition off of fossil fuels for transportation and energy generation by investing in zero emissions solutions.”

To address the challenge of air pollution and climate change, the American Lung Association in California and major health and medical organizations urge the public and policy leaders to strongly support the federal Clean Air Act and the federal Clean Power Plan as well as California’s strong clean energy and clean air policies.  This year the lung association is also calling for support of Senate Bill 1383 (Lara) to set clear targets for reducing “super pollutants” like black carbon from diesel exhaust and wood burning that threaten public health locally and are accelerating climate change. 

For more information on the State of the Air 2016 report, the public should visit: www.stateoftheair.org/california2016.

Now in its second century, the American Lung Association is the leading organization working to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease. With your generous support, the American Lung Association is “Fighting For Air” through research, education, and advocacy. For more information about the American Lung Association or to support the work it does, call 1-800-LUNG-USA (1-800-586-4872) or visit www.lung.org/california.