Phoenix has some of the worst air in the country, new study finds
PHOENIX (AZFamily) —Getting a breath of fresh air might be a little more difficult in the Valley.
The American Lung Association found the Phoenix metro area was the fourth-worst area in the country in terms of ozone air pollution. This is worse than last year’s report, where Phoenix ranked fifth. “There’s a lot of reasons. First, we have the perfect recipe to make ozone here in Arizona and in Phoenix,” said Joanna Strother, the senior director of advocacy with the American Lung Association.
Ozone pollution is also known as smog. According to Strother, this happens when various chemicals, like exhaust from cars, get into the air and react with the intense Arizona sun and heat. This creates air that can cause health problems for many people. “Especially those people who are our children, our seniors, pregnant women. These are the people we want to protect the most,” Strother said.
Strother also said the surrounding mountains keep this bad air in the Valley. “That absolutely does play an impact. Phoenix, located in a valley, especially when we have these weather inversion patterns, we’ll see that cooler air get trapped in the Valley and that warmer air on top and that air can become stagnant. And when it’s unhealthy and those unhealthy levels that can stay around for hours, sometimes days,” said Strother. “There are things in our everyday lives that individuals can do, so whether that’s not idling our cars as much, taking share rides or combining trips, even refueling your car at night can help to curb ozone.”
There is some good news in this report. They found Phoenix’s particle pollution is seeing improvements. This type of pollution includes things like smoke, dust, and dirt in the air. The Valley of the Sun ranked 20th-worst in the nation. This was better than the area’s ranking in last year’s report of ninth worst in the nation.
This study also found that 46% of Americans live in an area with unhealthy air.
You may be wondering if there are any places in Arizona with clean air. Prescott and Prescott Valley made the list for having some of the cleanest air in the country.
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