May is Asthma Awareness Month and a report on air quality shows mixed results for Marylanders.

The American Lung Association recently released its 25th annual "State of the Air" report. Findings showed nationally, four in 10 Americans live in places with unhealthy air.

In Maryland, the Washington-Baltimore-Arlington area saw the number of unhealthy ozone days fall to 4.3 per year, which is a best-ever score for the metro, but it still received a failing grade in the report.

Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos, associate professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine at Johns Hopkins University, said there is no substitute for good air quality.

"As a lung doctor, I have good medicines, I have great medicines, great inhalers to help my patients with lung diseases," Galiatsatos noted. "The challenge is, all of those inhalers will be undone by poor air quality, I don't have a single inhaler to offset that."

The report showed more than half a million people in Maryland are living with asthma.

Maryland tracks fine particle pollution in 10 counties. Four saw worse numbers compared to the last report. Baltimore and Cecil counties both scored a 'B' for particle pollution with the remaining eight counties receiving an 'A.'

Particulate is a mixture of tiny bits of solids and liquids suspended in the air, and comes from numerous sources, including factories and combustion engines, along with wildfires and wood-burning stoves. The report spanned the years 2020 to 2022, so the effect of last summer's wildfire smoke has yet to be calculated.

Galiastatos emphasized the increasing frequency of wildfires represents a threat to vulnerable populations.

"During the bad wildfires, not only do we see an influx of hospitalizations for lung issues, but we saw the same thing for heart issues," Galiastatos observed. "This is going to have immediate effects to the lungs and to the circulation with inflammation, and likely to last not just an immediate sense, but long term if we're exposed to this constantly and chronically."

The report calls on the Environmental Protection Agency to set stronger national standards for ozone, and finalize rules limiting carbon emissions from coal and gas-fired power plants.


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California air-quality regulators today are expected to adopt new fees for big polluters and rules to encourage large buildings to switch equipment from gas to zero-emission electric models.

Fifteen clean-air advocacy groups are rallying in front of the Southern California Air Quality Management Board in Diamond Bar today, urging passage of the new rules.

Kimberly Orbe, senior conservation program manager for the Sierra Club's Angeles chapter, said the transition would cover gas-fired water heaters, boilers and process heaters.

"Fossil fuel appliances are responsible for 10% of the emissions from stationary sources in our region," she said, "so that's really huge."

Opponents of the change include SoCalGas and industry groups representing dry cleaners and restauranteurs.

When burned, natural gas emits harmful smog-forming air pollution and greenhouse gases that fuel climate change. The So Cal Air Quality Management District's new pollution fee program would require large industrial polluters to pay to support regional clean-air efforts. The Sierra Club estimates this could raise about $25 million a year.

According to the American Lung Association, the Los Angeles/Long Beach area has the most high-ozone days of any metropolitan area in the country. Orbe said that's why advocacy groups have been pressing for stronger air-quality standards for years.

"Our region is burdened by an overwhelming amount of pollution - from oil drilling, from refineries, from the ports, from the warehouses, freeways," she said. "So, we want to make sure that we're passing strong rules to ensure that we continue to clean up our air, year after year."

The board is also expected to set a hearing date to consider new rules requiring zero-emissions technologies in the rail yards to combat diesel pollution from trains.

Leaders in Michigan are marking the historic new clean car standards, finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The final rule, Multi-Pollutant Emissions Standards for Model Years 2027 and Later Light-Duty and Medium-Duty Vehicles, was announced in March.

Michigan leaders are celebrating the move as a positive step in the fight against climate change.

State Rep. Jasper Martus, D-Flushing, said many people think of climate change and creating good jobs as two separate issues, but he said he believes the two go hand-in-hand.

"When we pursue policies that combat climate change, such as investing in electric vehicles, having higher standards for the vehicles that are produced here in Michigan and the United States," said Martus, "we can do it in such a way that creates good paying jobs."

The new standards will phase in over model years 2027 through 2032.

Martus said in addition to creating new jobs, the transition to electric vehicles will also decrease pain at the pump resulting from sky high gas prices.

He added he believes it's time for companies that make EVs to make their pitch to the public.

"We're not to the point now where everything is going to be electric vehicles overnight," said Martus. "We're not even at the point where everything could be a hybrid overnight. But we're beginning that process of these companies making electric vehicles need to make the pitch."

Martus added that as EV makers pitch their product, consumers will eventually see the prices of the vehicles come down - making them just as competitive, if not more so, than traditional vehicles.




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Agencies are raising awareness about air quality across the country this week.

Led by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality Awareness Week is highlighting the effects of poor air, with a special focus on wildfires and smoke today.

Travis Knudsen, public affairs manager for the Lane Regional Air Protection Agency, said small particles known as PM 2.5 in wildfire smoke can cause itchy eyes, coughing and other short-term respiratory problems.

"If you are someone who already suffers from respiratory issues, like you have asthma, it makes those acute symptoms that much more challenging and potentially problematic from a health perspective," Knudsen explained.

Knudsen said PM 2.5 particles can penetrate deep into the lungs. He also noted the Northwest is seeing more wildfires and his agency attributes it to climate change.

Smoke from wildfire season is at its peak in the Northwest starting around midsummer and lasting through early fall. Knudsen advised people to check the air quality index during smoke season, and pointed out people might need to reschedule their outside activities -- such as running or working out -- based on the air quality.

"Maybe when our quality is bad we reconsider those outdoor activities and instead just stay inside with a HEPA air purifier running so we are not being exposed to that harmful pollution from wildfire smoke," Knudsen suggested.

On Tuesday, the focus is on asthma. May 7 is World Asthma Day.


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