Full Title: Air Quality Life Index United States Fact Sheet
Author(s): Air Quality Life Index
Publisher(s): Air Quality Life Index
Publication Date: August 29, 2024
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
Since the Clean Air Act was enacted in 1970, particulate pollution (PM2.5) has declined by 67.2 percent—extending the life expectancy of an average American by 1.5 years (Figure 1). Responding to the latest scientific evidence on the health impact of lower levels of air pollution , the United States recently revised their national annual standard for PM2.5 from 12 µg/m3 to 9 µg/m3. With this revision implemented, only 13 out of the 3,142 counties in the United States (home to approximately 5 percent of the county’s population) are not meeting this standard. If these counties were to meet the country’s new standard, the total life expectancy in the US would go up by 1.9 million years.