Pittsburgh air quality ranked poorly for another year
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A recent study showed that while air pollution has somewhat improved in recent years, Pittsburgh is still among the worst-ranked areas in the country for air quality.
Air quality in the United States is on a downward spiral, according to the American Lung Association's 2022 State of the Air (SOTA) report.
The report covered air quality statistics collected from 2018 through 2020.
Pittsburgh saw mixed results, lowering its annual average of fine particulate pollution, while also still not meeting basic standards for daily levels of ozone and particle pollution.
Particle pollution is a trigger for asthma attacks and increases the risk of heart disease and lung cancer.
Experts did mention that pollution levels dropped for a time during the pandemic because people were not commuting as much as usual.