Smoke from Canadian wildfires in recent years may have had an impact on New York’s air quality, according to a recently released report by the American Lung Association.
The nonprofit health organization’s 2025 “State of the Air” report looks at two of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) dangerous outdoor air pollutants listed in the Clean Air Act — fine particulate matter and ozone — at the county and city level.
“This year’s report shows the dramatic impact that air pollution has on a growing number of people,” Harold Wimmer, president and CEO of the American Lung Association, said. “Efforts to slash staff, funding and programs at EPA are leaving families even more vulnerable to harmful air pollution. We need to protect EPA.”
Here’s what to know about the report’s findings.
What the report reveals about air quality across the U.S.
Smoke from Canadian wildfires raised ozone and particle pollution levels to levels “higher than they have been in many years” in central and eastern states, according to the report. And wildfires, along with extreme heat and drought, are affecting air pollution levels across much of the country, the report states.
Here are other key findings shared by the American Lung Association:
Which New York cities are the cleanest?
The report also highlighted 25 cities with the least year-round particle pollution, which are ranked by their average levels of particles as calculated by the EPA. The Elmira-Corning area came in No. 13 and the Syracuse-Auburn area followed closely behind with the No. 18 spot.
How is the air quality in New York?
The American Lung Association graded counties on their air quality by calculating the weighted average of each pollutant using the number of days of poor air quality each county experiences.
The New York-Newark area, which includes parts of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania was ranked No. 16 on list of 25 cities most polluted by ozone. And 25-out-of-62 counties in New York could be graded for at least one measure of air quality.
The following 23 counties received grades for ozone:
And the following 14 counties received grades for particle pollution:
Which counties in New York have no air quality data?
The majority of U.S. counties don’t have air quality monitors, according to the report, which means there’s no data available for those counties. Over 35 counties in New York have no air quality data and even some of the counties that do monitor air quality don’t analyze for both ozone and particle pollution.
Here’s which counties in New York have no air quality data:
Emily Barnes reports on consumer-related issues for the USA TODAY Network’s New York Connect Team, focusing on scam and recall-related topics. Follow her on X and Instagram @byemilybarnes. Get in touch at ebarnes@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: How clean is New York’s air? See findings of new report
Reporting by Emily Barnes, New York Connect Team / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
