131 million in U.S. live in areas with unhealthy pollution levels, lung association finds
131 million in U.S. live in areas with unhealthy pollution levels, lung association finds
More people across the United States – nearly 40% – are living in places with unhealthy levels of polluted air, according to a new report from the American Lung
More than 1/3rd? That’s wild. But I guess that’s also big cities.
It's not big cities: it's primarily 3 things
- Wildfires (see also: climate change)
- Energy generation and heavy industry (generally done rurally)
- Cars
Something as simple as living near an interstate can result in significant lung and heart damage over time. Brake dust is carcinogenic and the partial combustion products, particularly from diesel, are extremely toxic.
Usually if a city has particularly bad air quality it is because it is placed near a land formation that collects or traps bad air from another location. That's what's particularly foul about Salt Lake City or Bakersfield, for example.
Mostly Californian cities according to the American Lung Association’s State of the Air Report.