Report: More than 700K NJ kids are breathing unhealthy air
Only one county in New Jersey is listed among the cleanest in the country.
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More than 700,000 children in New Jersey are breathing unhealthy levels of air pollution, and more than a dozen counties saw worsening levels of ozone smog, according to the American Lung Association’s 27th annual “State of the Air” report.
The report grades the air quality in counties based on unhealthy levels of ground-level ozone air pollution, also known as smog. It also takes into consideration spikes in particle pollution, also known as soot, over a three-year period from 2022-2024. The report also ranks areas from cleanest to most polluted.
“Ozone and particle pollution can cause premature death and other serious health effects such as asthma attacks, heart attacks and strokes, preterm births and impaired cognitive functioning later in life,” the American Lung Association said in a statement. “Particle pollution can also cause lung cancer.”
According to this year’s report, 13 counties in New Jersey earned a grade of F for ozone smog, which worsened for the third report in a row. In fact, with the exception of Warren County, ALA says all residents of New Jersey “live in a metro area ranking among the nation’s worst 25 for a pollutant measure.” Gloucester County was actually ranked the worst in the state for ozone smog, with an average of 6.2 “unhealthy” days per year.
There is some good news, though. The report shows that there has been some “selective improvement” in particle pollution. In addition, the ALA says that the metro area which includes Newark showed improvements in particle measures, as did Warren County. Also, Camden and Union counties showed improvements in daily and year-round air pollution measurements.
Atlantic County is the only New Jersey county listed among the cleanest in the country for any measure of air pollution.
The ALA says infants and teens are more likely than adults to feel the impacts of air pollution.
“Their lungs are still developing, they breathe more air for their body size than adults and they are frequently exposed to outdoor air,” ALA said in a statement. “Air pollution exposure in childhood can cause long-term harm, including reduced lung growth, new asthma cases and increased risk of respiratory diseases.”
