Alexandria, Washington Area Gets Failing Grade on Ozone Levels

Alexandria earned a rating of “F” for its ozone levels in a report released Wednesday from the American Lung Association.

Ozone, the most widespread air pollutant, is created by the reaction of sunlight on emissions from vehicles and other sources. When ozone is inhaled, it irritates the lungs and can cause wheezing, coughing, asthma attacks and premature death, according to the association’s “State of the Air 2013” report.

Prince William, Loudoun and Fairfax counties all had improved levels of ozone in this year’s report. Arlington’s remained the same, and Alexandria’s worsened from last year. Alexandria, Arlington and Fairfax all earned “Fs” for ozone, but Loudoun improved from an “F” to a “D,’ and Prince William maintained a “C.”

Loudoun and Fairfax counties also both reduced their levels of particle pollution.

As a result of emissions reductions from coal-fired power plants and the transition to cleaner diesel fuels and engines, air quality is improving, especially in the eastern United States. In Alexandria, residents succeeded in shutting down the coal-fired power plant GenOn’s Potomac River Generating Station in October 2012.

The American Lung Association’s new report found that the Washington area has cut year-round particle pollution (soot) levels since the 2012 report, a trend across the nation. The area also saw fewer days with unhealthy spikes in soot levels.

But the metropolitan area has had more unhealthy days of high ozone, or smog. The DC area ranked as the ninth-most polluted city in the nation for smog, worse than last year’s rank of 13th-most polluted.

“The air in Washington, DC is certainly cleaner than when we started the ‘State of the Air’ report 14 years ago,” said Kimberly Williams, American Lung Association spokeswoman, in a statement. “Even though the area experienced increases in unhealthy days of high ozone, the air quality is still better compared to a decade ago.  But the work is not done, and we must set stronger health standards for pollutants and cleanup sources of pollution in the DC area to protect the health of our citizens.”

Washington itself reduced year-round particle pollution in  2009, 2010 and 2011, earning a passing grade. It also reduced its days of short-term particle pollution, earning a “C” grade, compared to a “D” last year, and recorded its lowest levels since the “State of the Air” report began.

But Washington experienced slightly worse levels of smog than in last year’s report and again earned a grade of “F” for its days of unhealthy levels of ozone.  

The report found that more than 131.8 million people in the United States still live in counties that have unhealthy levels of either ozone or particle pollution, which equates to more than four in 10 people. The American Lung Association report reveals that from 2009 to 2011, many places made strong progress compared to 2008 to 2010, particularly in lower year-round levels of particle pollution.

The association is calling for cleaning up major air pollution sources through steps like the cleaner gasoline and cleaner vehicle standards will drastically cut both ozone and particle pollution.

“The evidence is clear that the Clean Air Act delivers significant health benefits,” Williams said in a press release. “Congress needs to continue to ensure that the provisions under the Clean Air Act are protected and are enforced. EPA and every state must have adequate funding to monitor and protect our citizens from air pollution.”