Air quality in NJ slowly improving, study finds

By: Scott Fallon
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... New Jersey's air quality has gradually improved in recent years due in large part to better tailpipe emission controls and the closing of coal-fired power plants in upwind states, said a report released Wednesday. [04/17/2024]
..... The New York metropolitan region, including North Jersey, was still ranked 13th-worst in the nation for the number of days with high levels of ozone, a key ingredient of smog. It was ranked microscopic pieces of burned material produced by diesel combustion and burning wood, among other causes.
..... Both rankings were slight improvements in the annual "State of the Air" report by the American Lung Association, which analyzed data from thousands of air monitors across the U.S. from 2020 to2022.
..... Air quality in New Jersey has historically been bad due to the prevalence of factories, refineries and power plants, along with being a major transpiration hub for vehicles, plans, and ships. Although improvements have been made, New Jersey's poor air quality helps contribute. to some of the worst asthma rates in the nation.
..... New Jersey has an estimated 647,000 adults and 167,000 children with asthma. It also had one of the highest death tolls form asthma in 2021, the latest year for which statistics are available. There were 199 deaths that year, [2021] ranking New Jersey 44th among stats - among the worst. California, which has more than four times the population of New Jersey and some of the most smog-infested counties, had the most deaths, with 252, according to Centers for Disease control and Prevention data.
..... Air quality in the Philadelphia region, which includes seven South Jersey counties, also improved slightly for both ozone and particle pollution. the result for New Jersey counties were mixed, even for those right next to each other. Bergen County received an f for 11 high oz non days over the three years, but adjacent Passaic county received an A with no high ozone days.
..... New Jersey's grades will likely plummet next year, [2025] when the report includes the historically bad air quality days in June 2023, when wildfire smoke migrated hundreds of miles into the region from Ontario's burning forests.
..... The pollution was so think it turned midday blue skies into an orange and brown hue, prompted calls from health officials to remain indoors and forced hundreds of residents to emergency rooms, New Jersey continued to see elevated levels of smoke through much of the summer. [2023]

Grading the counties

..... The first grade given in for high ozone days from 2020 to 2022, with counties graded from least to worst by orange, and purple designations. The second grade is high particle pollution days under the same ranking.
* Atlantic: A for zero ozone days, B for one red particle day.
* Bergen: F for 11 orange ozone days, B for one orange particle day.
* Camden: C for three orange ozone days, B for two orange particle days.
* Cumberland: B for two orange ozone days, A for no particle days.
* Essex: B for two orange ozone days, B for two orange particle days.
* Gloucester: C for six orange ozone days, A for no particle days.
* Hudson: C for five orange ozone days, A for no particle days.
* Hunterdon: A for no ozone days, A for no particle days.
* Mercer: F for 11 orange ozone days, B for two orange particle days.
* Middlesex: C for five orange ozone days, B for tow orange particle days.
* Monmouth: D for four orange and two red days, incomplete for particle days.
* Morris: A for no ozone days, A for no particle days.
* Ocean: C for five orange ozone days, B for tow orange particle days.
* Passaic: A for no ozone days, incomplete for particle days.
* Union: incomplete for ozone days, B for two orange particle days
* Warren: A for no ozone days, B for one orange particle day.

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