smog.jpg

Smog covers midtown Manhattan in New York in this July 10, 2007 file photo. (AP Photo/Adam Rountree, File)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. --

Feeling short of breath?

For the 15th consecutive year, Staten Island has received an "F" for its ozone or "smog" levels in the American Lung Association's annual "State of the Air" report, released Wednesday.

Richmond County joins New York (Manhattan), Queens and the Bronx (data was not collected for Brooklyn) as one of nine New York counties that flunked the ALA's ozone assessment.

Islanders endured 28 high ozone days over the period measured -- 27 of them "orange" ozone days, considered unhealthy for sensitive populations, and one "red" ozone day, considered unhealthy for everyone. The ALA's air quality scoring system, which assigns increasing weights to days when air pollution levels reach higher ranges, gave Staten Island a 9.5 weighted ozone average.

While that score ranks below passing levels, it's significantly better than the Island's weighted ozone average of nearly 30, when the ALA began tracking air quality 18 years ago.

In fact, smog levels had been dropping steadily on Staten Island from the time of the ALA's first "State of the Air" report in 1996 until 2011, when the Island narrowly missed receiving a passing grade. Since the 2011 report, however, the Island's weighted ozone average has doubled.

Ozone, often called smog, is harmful to breathe and can cause serious health problems by attacking lung tissue, according to the ALA website. It forms when transportation emissions or smoke from coal-burning buildings come in contact with sunlight.

While the Island's high ozone levels, like the rest of New York City's, are concerning, the borough

scored significantly better on its levels of lung cancer-causing particle pollution -- both short-term and annual -- the other aspect of air quality the report tracks.

Richmond County recorded only one high particle pollution day -- an "orange" day -- over the period measured in the report, earning a "B" for short-term particle pollution levels and a passing grade for its annual particle pollution levels. The borough's particle pollution levels are down significantly since 1996, according to ALA data.

Staten Island's increasing ozone and decreasing particle pollution levels are in line with the national trend, the ALA reports.

"We are happy to report continued reduction of year-round particle pollution across the nation, thanks to cleaner diesel fleets and cleaner power plants," ALA president and CEO Harold Wimmer said in a statement. "However, this improvement represents only a partial victory. We know that warmer temperatures increase risk for ozone pollution, so climate change sets the stage for tougher challenges to protect human health."