A new report from the American Lung Association shows nearly 40% of people across the U.S. are living in areas that are heavily polluted.
According to the newly released “State of the Air” report, 131 million people are living in areas with unhealthy levels of pollution, impacting their health. That’s an increase of 12 million from last year.
The report also showed, people of color are disproportionately vulnerable to air pollution.
The George Washington University has experts available to discuss this new report and the state of air pollution in our country. If you would like to schedule an interview, please contact Katelyn Deckelbaum, [email protected].
Susan Anenberg, Director of the GW Climate & Health Institute, and associate professor of environmental and occupational health. Anenberg’s research focuses on the health implications of air pollution and climate change. Recently her team published two studies finding links between health problems like asthma and exposure to polluted air.
Gaige Kerr, is a senior research scientist and professorial lecturer in the department of environmental and occupational health at the GW Milken Institute School of Public Health. He researches ambient air pollution, and projects he has led span topics ranging from understanding the emission sources of pollution to assessing the health impacts experienced by the populations pollution impacts, with a special emphasis on understanding associated ethnoracial and socioeconomic disparities. He recently authored a study looking into the growing burden of air pollution among communities of color. A video of Gaige Kerr talking about the findings of the study can be found here.
Dan Goldberg, an assistant research professor at the GW Milken Institute School of Public Health is an expert on climate change, environmental occupational health and global environmental health. He recently led a panel discussion along with NASA specialists at South by Southwest on the topic of using satellite air monitoring techniques to measure what is in our air.
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