Lung Association Gives Lehigh Valley an 'F'

Northampton County and Lehigh County both got a score of "F" for their levels of ozone in a new report by the American Lung Association.

The association's 2012 "State of the Air" report also found that the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton metro area ranks among the 35 most polluted cities in the nation for ozone and daily and year-round particle pollution.

In this case, "ozone" and "particle pollution" are just another way of saying "smog" and "soot."

Are you someone with some sort of respiratory problem? Have you noticed a change in the air? Let us know in the comments section.

This is the the region failed to meet the ALA's standards for pollution. It has gotten worse when it comes to short-term and long-term particle pollution, the report says.

“State of the Air shows that we’re making steady progress in cutting dangerous pollution from the air as a result of cleanup efforts required under the Clean Air Act," Deb Brown, president and CEO of the American Lung Association of the Mid-Atlantic, said in a news release. 

"But millions of Americans across the country, including residents of the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton metro area, are still forced to breathe unhealthy levels of air pollution as a result of air quality standards that are outdated."

Northampton and Lehigh counties aren't alone in getting "Fs" for ozone level. A majority of Pennsylvania's counties scored the same way.

Only one county -- Cambria -- received a B, the highest grade in the report for Pennsylvania. There were six counties that got a "C" and five that got a "D." 

Among the other findings:

• Nearly 10 percent of the Valley's population -- close to 62,000 out of nearly 650,000 -- has asthma.
• 22,248 people have chronic bronchitis.
• 10,914 people have emphysema.
• 172,434 people have cardiovascular disease.