Metro Atlanta suffers the third-worst levels of ozone pollution, otherwise known as smog, in the Southeast, according to a study released Wednesday by the American Lung Association.
The group’s annual “State of the Air” report also ranks the Atlanta region fourth-worst in the Southeast for particle pollution, known colloquially as soot.
The new report measured air quality across the country from 2021 through 2023. It found that nearly half of the U.S. population live in areas with unhealthy levels of air pollution.
Unfortunately, too many people in the Atlanta metro area are living with unhealthy levels of ozone and particle pollution,” said Danna Thompson, advocacy director for the lung association in Georgia. “This air pollution is a threat to human health at every stage of life – increasing the risk of premature birth and low birth-weight babies … causing or worsening lung and heart disease, (and) shortening lives.”
The lung association urged Georgians to support the work of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is being hit with budget cuts by the Trump administration.
“Without EPA staff and programs, Georgians won’t know what’s in the air they’re breathing, and efforts to clean up air pollution will be undone,” Thompson said.
The new report also ranked the Augusta area fourth-worst in the Southeast for soot, although the study also found that part of Georgia to be among the cleanest in the nation for smog.
Smog is worsening in the Savannah area, according to the report, dropping from “A” to “B.”
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Dave Williams | Capitol Beat News Service
Dave Williams is the Bureau Chief for Capitol Beat News Service. He is a veteran reporter who has reported on Georgia state government and politics since 1999. Before that, he covered Georgia’s congressional delegation in Washington, D.C.
