Most Americans live in areas that have unhealthy air pollution levels at some point during the year, according to a new report released by the American Lung Association on Wednesday. The public-health group said that 60 percent of Americans live in cities or counties that have unsafe air quality levels. The group ranked the pollution levels air quality measurements reported by state and local agencies to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency between 2005 and 2007. The report said air pollution reaches unhealthy levels in almost every major U.S. city at some point during the each year, affecting around 186.1 million people. “Six out of 10 Americans right now as we speak live in areas where the air can be dirty enough to send people to the emergency room, dirty enough to shape how kids' lungs develop and even dirty enough to kill,” said Janice Nolen, the association's assistant vice president on national policy and advocacy.
