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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Reduce the number of days people are exposed to unhealthy air — EH‑01 Infographic

This objective is a Leading Health Indicator (LHI). Learn about LHIs.

Status: Little or no detectable change

  Little or no detectable change

Most Recent Data:
4,534,737,587 Air Quality Index (AQI)-weighted people days (2019-21)

Target:
3,866,365,816 AQI-weighted people days

Desired Direction:
Decrease desired

Baseline:
4,295,962,018 Air Quality Index (AQI)-weighted people days exceeded 100 on the AQI in 2016-18

Breathing in unhealthy air can raise people’s risk of serious health problems like respiratory diseases, cancer, and heart disease. Air pollution has also been linked to premature death.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) is a summary measure of data on numerous air pollutants measured throughout the country. The AQI is an indicator of overall air quality that takes into account 5 major air pollutants measured within a geographic area: ozone, particle pollution (also called particulate matter), carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide. The AQI ranges from 0 to 500. The higher the number, the greater the level of air pollution. When AQI values are above 100, air quality is unhealthy: at first for certain sensitive groups of people, then for everyone as AQI values get higher. An AQI value over 300 represents hazardous air quality for all populations.

Data for this objective are calculated in AQI-weighted people days. This means the average AQI across all counties in the U.S. is weighted by population — a way to measure the air quality experienced by the average person in the country.

In 2019–2021, 4.5 billion Air Quality Index (AQI)-weighted people days exceeded 100 on the AQI each year, on average.

Data Source:  Air Quality System (AQS), EPA

Number of days people are exposed to unhealthy air

Explore air quality data, like reports, maps, and visualization tools: Air Data: Air Quality Data Collected at Outdoor Monitors Across the US | US EPA.

Air quality and social determinants of health

Environmental factors like air quality are closely linked to social determinants of health (SDOH). There are disparities in how people are affected by air pollution, based on factors like geographic location, race/ethnicity, family income, and educational attainment. To learn about the connection between air quality and SDOH, explore the Environmental Conditions Literature Summary.

The 5 social determinants of health