The American Lung Association’s annual “State of the Air” report finds positive trends in air quality in two Iowa metros. Kristina Hamilton is director of advocacy for the American Lung Association of Iowa.
The Quad Cities saw slight improvements in the three types of pollution evaluated in the American Lung Association’s report. Overall results for Iowa were largely positive, according to Hamilton.
Sixteen counties Iowa counties have air quality monitors, and the association was able to evaluate data from monitors in nine of those counties. Palo Alto County was one of the nine where air quality data collected. The Lung Association’s report considers particle pollution, sometimes called soot, as well as ozone or smog and Hamilton says metro Des Moines is considered one of the country’s cleanest cities because it had fewer days with smog last year.
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Exposure to air pollution over a long period of time can cause or inflame lung conditions like asthma and C-O-P-D — chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This is the 25th year the American Lung Association has issued its “State of the Air” report.
