CARY, N.C. — Going on 24 years, the American Lung Association continues analyzing data from verified air quality sources to learn more about the air we breathe. Its data has been released in its State of the Air Report.

What You Need To Know

  • The American Lung Association released its State of the Air report

  • The report measures cities, counties and states for pollutants

  • Elaine Loyack is a board member for an N.C. chapter of the ALA

The volunteer health organization graded Wake County’s ozone quality an A.

The Raleigh-Durham-Cary greater metropolitan area was tied for first for the cleanest ozone for a metro area in the country.

However, it ranked 112th worst for annual particle pollution out of 200 metro areas.

The website states that the air quality data were primarily gathered from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality System.

One of the top findings contained in the report is 1 in 3 Americans live in an area with unhealthy levels of air pollution.

According to the ALA metrics, “nearly 36% of Americans — 119.6 million people — still live in places with failing grades for unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution.”

Its statistics show 17.6 million fewer people are inhaling poor air this year versus last year. What does appear to be a dangerous trend is the number of people breathing in a deadly amount of particle pollution on a daily basis is higher with 63.7 million, the most ever reported in a yearly report card.

One woman has a personal connection to how what we breathe can determine how we live.

“This is cool because it blooms,” Elaine Loyack said as she walked through her miniature botanical garden in her backyard.

Loyack values pursuing a healthy lifestyle and physical surroundings.

To her, nothing beats taking in the sights and sounds of nature from a backyard.

“It’s like our sanctuary,” Loyack said.

One lush green plant after another surrounds her Cary home, including a snowbell tree.

Loyack looked at the tree fondly.

“This tree was given to us after my dad died,” Loyack said.

The white-flowered tree was uprooted from their old home and planted here in her father’s memory.

Loyack said her dad, Jim Massey, enjoyed smoking pipe tobacco for a fair portion of his life.

She said the tough part for her is knowing he left this world too soon.

“Dad smoked a pipe for years and years and years,” she said.

Her father was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at the same time doctors identified a brain tumor later in his life. Both medical diagnoses contributed to a pulmonary embolism that led to his death in 2006.

“It makes it more meaningful to me. When I am talking about lung disease, or research, or the impacts on lung health, when I am talking to somebody who has also experienced loss related to lung disease or cancer I can identify with that,” Loyack said.

According to the report from the ALA, two of the most widespread and dangerous pollutants are particulate matter and ozone. Each of those pollutants can trigger chronic health conditions such as asthma or COPD, which is something Loyack witnessed affecting her dad.

“It’s hard,” she said. 

Chronic conditions can worsen because of poor air quality. Respiratory issues like wheezing, coughing and shortness of breath are all health side effects of air pollution. Cars releasing gases from fuel into the atmosphere and other factors combine to affect the air we breathe.

Loyack is also a North Carolina Local Leadership Board Member for the American Lung Association. The threat of pollutants or inhaling smoke is why Loyack stays on top of her health.

“I don’t smoke, and I have never wanted to smoke, and as a mother of two I have never wanted that around my children,” Loyack said.