ROANOKE, Va. – Four Virginia cities are among the top ten cleanest places to live in the U.S., according to the American Lung Association.
The annual air quality “report card” tracks exposure to unhealthy levels of smog, soot and short-term spikes in particle pollution, over a three-year period.
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Roanoke, Charlottesville, Harrisonburg and Virginia Beach make this list.
Across the country, the American Lung Association says nearly nine million more people were impacted by deadly particle pollution than last year.
The report also shows more days with “very unhealthy” and “hazardous” air quality than ever before.
The report found people of color were 61% more likely to live in a county with a failing grade for at least one pollutant and 3.6 times as likely to live in a county with a failing grade for all three pollutants.
Regardless of the shutdowns in early 2020, there was no obvious improvement in air quality.
You can read the 2022 report here.