1. State of the Air Report 2011 Katie King Director, Health Promotion & Public Policy American Lung Association of New England

2. Annual American Lung Association nationwide report on air pollution Gives A- F and Pass/Fail grades to 900 counties with monitors Provides data by county, state info by zip code Ranks 25 metro areas with worst/least pollution What is the State of the Air?

3. Why do we publish State of the Air? Puts air pollution into everyday language Gives public local information Focuses attention on ozone and particle pollution Tells people how to protect themselves Encourages and supports programs to cut pollution and improve air quality

4. What We Grade Ozone (O 3 ) Particle pollution (PM 2.5 ) – Short-term spikes (24-hour) – Year-round measures (annual average)

5. Where ALA gets the data: States Collect Air Pollution Data in 2007, 2008, & 2009 EPA Reviews & Posts Data Online ALA Downloads the Data from EPA

6. Once ALA gets the data: ALA Calculates Grades We Share Grades With DEP for their Review ALA Confirms Grades and Calculates Rankings

8. What do the grades mean? A = 0 days with unhealthy levels over 3 years B = 1 to 2 unhealthy days C = 3 to 6 unhealthy days D = 7 to 9 unhealthy days F = 9 or more unhealthy days

9. Year-Round Particle Pollution No AQI exists to use as a scale Graded Pass/Fail compared to national standard of 15.0 μg/m3 Use EPA’s calculation for each county 15.1+ = Fail 15.0 or less= Pass

10. www.stateoftheair.org Type in zip code to get county grades Compare air quality in two cities Get rankings for every city Get trend charts for every city

12. Metro Area Trend charts show progress

16. Questions? Thank you! Katie King kking@lungne.org (781) 314-9011