How clean is the air you breathe? The American Lung Association’s 2023 State of the Air report gives Metro Detroit a failing grade for particle pollution.
The report ranks Metro Detroit 12th out of 200 metro areas for year-round particle pollution, which is up four spots from last year’s report.
The region slid down to the 32nd worst for ozone. The report ranks cities based on a three-year rolling average.
“We’re moving in the right direction in terms of the ozone pollution, and on the particle pollution, some of the increase is tied to the wildfires out west,” said Ken Fletcher, director of advocacy for the American Lung Association–Michigan.
Fletcher said children, seniors, pregnant women, and people with preexisting conditions are most at risk of complications from air pollution. Research shows that poor air quality may trigger or contribute to asthma attacks and lung cancer.
“Breathing particle pollution is unhealthy for everyone, but certain populations are even more vulnerable to health harms,” Fletcher said.
Josiah Scott, 8, of Southwest Detroit, has already been learning about pollution and the need to care for the environment.
“Dirty air might kill us,” said Scott while picnicking at Riverside Park. “I want to stop throwing plastic away because it will kill the whales, and the whales give us air.”
She was alluding to whales capturing carbon dioxide from the air and storing it in their bodies.
Nearby in the park, Donnell Matthews was with his family.
“When you have children, you think of everything,” said Matthews while remarking that the air seemed “spectacular” by the Detroit River. “But air quality isn’t at the top of the list. Safety is.”
Matthews said he feels comfortable living with his family in their Southwest Detroit neighborhood, but Metro Detroit’s air quality could be unsafe for some.
“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done to bring Metro Detroit’s air quality up to where it needs to be,” Fletcher said.
Fletcher credited the Clean Air Act as a factor in lower ozone pollution in Southeast Michigan.
