The D.C. area ranks 22nd worst in the U.S. for ozone, according to the American Lung Association鈥檚 2021 .
What the report lists as “Washington-Baltimore-Arlington” includes nearly 10 million people in D.C. and in 40 counties and independent cities in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and a portion of Pennsylvania.
鈥淭here has been a slight improvement for ozone, just a slight improvement,鈥� said Aleks Casper, American Lung Association director of advocacy for D.C. “It is still among the top 25 worst cities for ozone. So, it鈥檚 something to absolutely be aware of and we have to continue to work on.”
Ozone is known as smog. Particle pollution, known as soot, can cause lung cancer.
The D.C. area has done worse on 鈥渕ost polluted for year-round particle pollution鈥� and remained unchanged for 鈥渟hort term particle pollution鈥� in this year鈥檚 evaluation. Casper finds that really concerning.
The report shows some progress on cleaning up air pollution nationally, but there鈥檚 still room for improvement.
鈥淔orty percent of Americans are living in and breathing unhealthy air,鈥� Casper said. 鈥淧article pollution and ozone can really damage your health.鈥�
The American Lung Association believes that even breathing one day of unhealthy air can cause people harm.
Ozone pollution is particularly dangerous for children, older adults and people with lung diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or asthma.
鈥淎lthough we鈥檙e aware of many of the risks of bad air, ozone and pollution to patients with , asthma and lung cancers, we also have to remember it affects people in many different ways,鈥� said Dr. Amit K. Mahajan, an American Lung Association volunteer medical expert.
Some of those different ways include: having increased susceptibility to infections, having potential for impaired cognitive functioning and the risk of metabolic disorders and even premature birth.
Known as 鈥淒r. Bobby,鈥� Mahajan is medical director of Interventional Pulmonology and Complex Airways Disease Program at Inova Medical Group, which serves Northern鈥疺irginia鈥痑nd the D.C. area.
鈥淎s a team and a world, we need to work on trying to develop means to reducing ozone and pollution, not only to help our children but also to help our development in the future,” Mahajan said.
Casper said anything people can do on a personal level can help. She recommends using public transportation or a zero emission vehicle to cut back on the ozone. Not burning wood fires on hot days will prevent someone from adding to the soot, particle pollution problem.
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