Q&A With Kevin Stewart: State of the Air in NJ

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Today the American Lung Association published its annual "State of the Air" report for 2018. Consultant360 had the opportunity to speak with Kevin Stewart, Director of Environmental Health at the American Lung Association of the Mid-Atlantic, about the report and its findings for New Jersey specifically.

Consultant360: What is the “State of the Air” in New Jersey’s metro areas?

Kevin Stewart: The American Lung Association’s 2018 “State of the Air” report found that ozone air pollution in New Jersey and throughout much of the Mid-Atlantic worsened when compared with last year’s report, even as fine particle pollution levels continued their steady improvement. The “State of the Air” report gives results for 3 measures of air pollution: days with elevated ozone, and daily and annual values for fine particle pollution.

More specifically, in addition to providing metro area rankings, the 19th annual “State of the Air” report also grades and ranks individual counties. Fourteen New Jersey counties fall into the 4-state, 35-county New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA metro area. The remaining 7 are part of the 4-state, 16-county Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro area. 

C360: How did New Jersey metro areas grade in terms of ozone pollution?

KS: For ozone, with the sole exception of Atlantic County, New Jersey, all monitored counties in the Philadelphia-Reading-Camden metro area posted worse results than in last year’s report. Likewise, for the New York-Newark metro area, 21 of the 27 counties monitored for this pollutant also performed more poorly. In New Jersey, only 3 counties (Hudson, Monmouth, and Morris) improved, and then only slightly.

As many other areas also had problems with ozone increases, the metro areas’ ranks nevertheless slightly improved in: South Jersey, from 22nd worst last year to 24th worst of 227 in the current report; and in North Jersey, from 9th worst last year to 10th worst. In both cases, the rank changes were determined by ozone levels outside of the state, at the worst county in each area, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Fairfield, Connecticut, respectively.

C360: How does this compare with last year?

KS: Compared with the 2017 report, New Jersey experienced more unhealthy days of high ozone in this year’s report. Of the 15 counties posting grades for ozone air pollution, 11 performed more poorly, and 11 (not necessarily the same counties) earned “F” grades. In New Jersey, Camden, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, and Ocean counties all earned their 19th straight “F” for this pollutant in the American Lung Association’s report.

C360: Why did the frequency of days high in ozone pollution so frequently increase in New Jersey?

KS: This report documents how warmer temperatures brought by climate change make ozone more likely to form and harder to clean up. This year’s report also revealed that ozone levels increased in most cities nationwide, in large part due to warmer temperatures in 2016, the second hottest year on record in the United States. Over the past decades, ozone pollution has decreased nationwide because the nation has cleaned up major sources of the emissions that create ozone, especially coal-fired power plants and vehicles.

C360: How did New Jersey rank in terms of year-round particle pollution?

KS: The following areas met the current national standard for year-round particle pollution:

• For the second year, the Philadelphia-Reading-Camden metro area
• For the third year, the New York-Newark metro area
• For the seventh year, counties statewide

The metro area that includes South Jersey ranked 12th worst of 187 across the country in the current report, despite posting its best-ever results for the sixth consecutive year. For North Jersey, the metro area’s rank improved from 22nd worst to 26th worst, taking it just off the “Worst Cities” list for this pollutant measure, as a result of the value for the worst county (New York, New York) improving to the best ever.

C360: How does this compare with last year?

KS: Nationwide, the best progress in this year’s report came in reducing year-round levels of particle pollution. Noting the exceptions of Middlesex, Warren, and Essex counties (posting an “Incomplete” grade, worse, and equal marks, respectively), the 2018 report found that year-round particle pollution levels were all distinctly lower for the 10 other graded counties than in the 2017 report. The 12 counties that did have monitored values all performed much better than the national standard, continuing a long-standing trend of improvement. In fact, the last time New Jersey posted a result above the current standard was in the American Lung Association’s 2011 report.

C360: How about daily particle pollution?

KS: For the daily measure of fine particle pollution, all but 1 (Bergen) of New Jersey’s 12 counties that posted grades either showed improvement or equaled last year’s performance. For the first time ever, both the Philadelphia-Reading-Camden and New York-Newark metro areas earned passing grades for all counties posting results. Both metro areas’ ranks also improved—for North Jersey, from 28th worst last year to 36th worst of 201 in the current report; for South Jersey, from 20th worst last year to 31st worst, removing it from the “Worst Cities” list for this pollutant measure. In both cases, the rank changes were determined by daily fine particle pollution levels outside of the state, at the worst county in each area, Northampton and Berks, Pennsylvania, respectively.  

Compared with the 2017 report, New Jersey has seen a distinct increase in unhealthy days for ozone and a continuing gradual improvement in both measures of particle pollution. This is in keeping with trends seen across the nation for both higher ozone and lower particle pollution levels than in last year’s report. In the case of year-round particle pollution, the Philadelphia-Reading-Camden metro area posted its 14th consecutive improvement in its worst county’s level since the 2004 report.

C360: What do these rankings mean for people in these New Jersey metro areas who suffer from lung disease?

KS: The 2018 "State of the Air" report finds that unhealthful levels of ozone in New Jersey and its wider metro areas put our citizens at risk for premature death and other serious health effects such as asthma attacks and greater difficulty breathing for those living with a lung disease such as COPD [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease]. As long as there are many days with high ozone levels, people with lung diseases such as asthma will continue to need medical attention. Across the nation, the report found continued improvement in air quality, but still, more than 4 in 10 Americans—133.9 million—live in counties that have unhealthful levels of either ozone or particle pollution, where their health is at risk. The trends in this year’s report, which covers data collected by states, cities, counties, tribes, and federal agencies in 2014 to 2016, confirm the ongoing challenges to reduce each pollutant in the changing political and outdoor climate.

C360: What are the health effects of air pollution?

KS: Ozone pollution and particle pollution are 2 of the most widespread and dangerous air pollutants. Breathing these pollutants can cause asthma attacks, respiratory and cardiovascular harm, and even early death. Breathing particle pollution can also cause lung cancer.

The “State of the Air” 2018 report adds to the evidence that a changing climate is making it harder to protect human health. With the nation’s second hottest year on record in 2016, high ozone days spiked, putting millions more people at risk and adding challenges to the work cities are doing across the nation to clean up.

C360: What can people do to help the state of our air get better?

KS: We can and should do more to save lives. The American Lung Association in New Jersey calls on our members of Congress to defend the Clean Air Act, currently under threat from those who want to weaken this effective public health law. We also call on the US Environmental Protection Agency to implement and enforce the law instead of trying to roll back major safeguards such as the Clean Power Plan and cleaner cars, both steps that help us fight climate change and reduce air pollution. New Jerseyans can contact their members of Congress and visit www.lung.org/sota to learn more.

C360: Is there anything else you would like to add?

KS: Despite the recent increase in ozone pollution, the “State of the Air” 2018 report shows that the Clean Air Act has worked to clean up much of the dangerous air pollution across the nation for decades. The air is cleaner but not clean enough to protect people’s health from harm. And climate change will continue to make both ozone pollution and particle pollution harder to clean up.

The Clean Air Act must remain intact and enforced to enable the nation to continue to protect all Americans from the dangers of air pollution. This law has driven improvements in air quality for nearly 50 years, improvements that the "State of the Air" 2018 report continues to document. The Clean Air Act’s tools must remain in place, funded, and enforced.

The American Lung Association will continue to fight the actions of the current Administration to reverse and reduce protections in place. 

Read more about the report here and see the full report at www.lung.org/sota.