Delaware’s results are mixed in the 2023 State of the Air report released by the American Lung Association.
According to the report the Philadelphia-Reading-Camden metro area that includes New Castle and Kent Counties had its best ever results for ozone smog.
New Castle County posted its first passing grade - a “D” - indicating there are still too many days with poor air quality, while Sussex County earned its first “A” grade recording zero days with unhealthy levels of ozone. Kent County’s grade remained at a “B.”
New Castle County fell from the nation’s cleanest counties, earning a “B” this year after receiving an “A” a year ago with zero days with unhealthy levels of fine particle pollution.
Kent and Sussex Counties earned “A” grades for their 12th straight year.
American Lung Association chief mission officer Deb Brown says the state’s priority needs to be policies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions such as transitioning to zero-emission vehicles.
"We want to really work to implement whatever we can to help facilitate that transition to zero emission vehicles because it has important health benefits,” said Brown. “We would see fewer unhealthy air days which protects the health of Delawareans including more than 93,000 adults and children living with asthma, 50,000 people with COPD, and 500 patients battling lung cancer."
The report finds that nationwide, one in three people are exposed to unhealthy air.
"We need to clean up all sources of air and climate pollution, and every state has the opportunity to do that. We know that people living in close proximity to high traffic pollution areas are at greater risk for negative health consequences," said Brown.
The report covers the three-year period of 2019-2021.
