Russ Zimmer

@RussZimmer

Monmouth and Ocean counties both received an 'F' from the American Lung Association for ozone days

Smog has been continually decreasing on the Shore since the ALA's first report in 1996

Super polluters, as shown in the video above, are responsible for a third of all toxic air releases

The first week of May is Air Quality Awareness Week in New Jersey, a time to contemplate ways to improve the sorry state of the air we breathe.

New Jersey, including the Shore, once again gets poor marks for air quality due to smog, which puts the health of young children, seniors and people with respiratory issues at greater risk, according to the American Lung Association's new "State of the Air" report.

Yet things are looking up.

Monmouth had 11 "red,""orange" or "purple" ozone alert days in the last three years, compared with an annual average of 40 from 1996 to 1998, according to the report. Such alerts are issued when hot weather combines with pollution to create unhealthy breathing conditions. Ocean had just 16 ozone days from 2014 to 2016; the average was 60 ozone days in a typical summer from 1997 to 1999.

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In the 18 years since the State of the Air report debuted, both Monmouth and Ocean counties have seen a gradual decrease in the number of ozone action days.

Still, smog remains more embedded in the New York metro area than all but eight other cities. Sixty-two cities haven't had a single smog warning in the last three years.

The findings mark the closest Monmouth and Ocean counties have ever come to getting a passing grade for ozone pollution, or smog, from the ALA's State of the Air report. Nine days of high ozone would have earned a D from the ALA.

Nationally, air quality has improved significantly from the previous year's assessment — 41 million fewer Americans live in counties with unhealthy air.

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In addition to the presence of ozone, the report looks at the amount of fine particles, usually created by fuel combustion, measured in the air.

Ocean County received a B in that regard. The data aren't tracked in Monmouth. Everywhere else in New Jersey where particle pollution is analyzed received passing scores — either an A or B, except for Union County (C).

Power plants, particularly coal-fired generation stations, and automobiles are two of the most common sources of both ozone and particle pollution. Pollution from coal plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania migrates downwind and fouls the air in New Jersey, where half of the power comes from zero-emission nuclear plants.

"The (ALA) report is a better indicator of where the bad air quality is measured and less about where it is generated," said David Foertner, executive director of the Ozone Transport Commission, which advises the EPA on regional solutions for ozone reduction.

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Air pollution, an invisible threat, has been linked to a myriad of health problems, including:

Asthma attacks and other breathing problems

Cardiovascular disease

Lung cancer

Lower birth weights in newborns

The report comes out at a time when a new presidential administration is eyeing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as an overextended and overstuffed arm of the federal government, one that is ripe for spending cuts — to the tune of 31 percent of the agency's current budget.

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Environmentalists and public health advocates say shrinking the EPA will make it difficult to enforce clean air and water laws.

"The Clean Air Act is the most important tool in the fight for healthy air; it has successfully saved lives and improved health by driving emission reductions for more than 47 years, as 'State of the Air' continues to document," said Harold P. Wimmer, national president and CEO of the American Lung Association, in a statement accompanying the report.

Some other takeways from the report:

Los Angeles remains at the top for ozone pollution with an average of 108.3 ozone action days every year. In fact, much of California fails to meet the ozone health standards. This illustrates how much climate and topography — Los Angeles sits between two mountain ranges, which trap the heat and smog created by the city — can influence the presence of ozone.

A unique component of air pollution out West is wildfires. Long-burning fires contributed to a handful of cities west of the Rocky Mountains having to endure some of their worst years of air pollution on record.

Wilmington, North Carolina, joins the list of metro areas that perpetually enjoy clean air, including Burlington, Vermont; Cape Coral-Fort Myers-Naples, Florida, Elmira-Corning, New York; Honolulu; and Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Florida.

What are the Shore's single greatest sources of air pollution? Watch this quick video to find out:

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Russ Zimmer: 732-557-5748, razimmer@app.com