A new American Lung Association's (ALA) "State of the Air" report ranks Muscatine County 23rd worst in the United States for fine particulate pollution, affecting an estimated 34,000 residents who are at-risk from the air pollution because of health conditions such as asthma, COPD, cardio vascular disease and diabetes.
The ALA report tracks with a just released Iowa Department of Natural Resources' (IDNR) air quality report that seven National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) exceedances were recorded for fine particulate pollution and 67 exceedances for sulfur dioxide in Muscatine County during 2013.
During 2013, five exceedances of ambient air quality standards for fine particulate pollution were recorded in Davenport and one in Clinton.
The 15 fine particulate (PM 2.5) exceedances recorded statewide last year, compared with five during 2012. Four of the five fine particulate exceedances in Iowa during 2012 were in Muscatine (Muscatine High East Campus), and one in Emmetsburg.
Ozone exceedances dropped from 18 state-wide (including one in Davenport and four in Clinton) in 2012, to zero in 2013.
Sulfur dioxide (SO2) exceedances of ambient air quality standards occurred 67 times (all at three monitors in Muscatine) during 2013, compared with 37 (all but one at Muscatine monitors) in 2012.
For the first four month of this year, exceedances of fine particulate matter statewide already total 12, nearly as many as all of 2013.
Of the 12 fine particulate exceedances, four have been recorded in Muscatine, two in Davenport, two in Sioux City, two in Clinton, one in Cedar Rapids and one in Montgomery County.
