EVERETT — Summer and wildfire season seem far away as an unusually cool April lingers. But remember October 2022, when warm, stagnant air trapped wildfire smoke across the Puget Sound? Darrington recorded the dirtiest air in the country, and the region endured the worst air quality in the world.
According to the American Lung Association’s annual “state of the air” report released last week, that short-term pollution, measured as “high particle days” lands nearby Bellingham and Seattle-Tacoma among the worst metropolitan areas in the country. No cities in Snohomish County received a national ranking, but the county itself received a grade of F. Eleven other counties measured, including King and Whatcom, also failed.
That particle pollution, or particulate matter, is bad for everyone, regardless of age and underlying health conditions. It comes from many sources, including factories, and diesel- and gasoline-powered vehicles and equipment. The other source of particle pollution — smoke and ash from wildfires and wood stoves — is the main driver of the region’s high particle days.
Carrie Nyssen, senior director of advocacy with the American Lung Association, said the report is a mix of good and bad news for the region.
“We have made real progress in Washington, but there is much more work to be done to ensure everyone in our state has clean, healthy air to breathe,” Nyssen said in a press release. “Even one poor air quality day is one too many for children, older adults, people with chronic illnesses and other vulnerable populations including lower-income residents, and people of color.”
According to the American Lung Association’s data, many people in Snohomish County are at higher risk of complications from poor air quality. That includes more than 13,000 kids and another 68,000 adults with asthma, or about 10% of the county’s population.
Ozone levels have been declining in the region, something that is not currently monitored in Snohomish County. Ozone is a gas that forms from pollutants like nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) cooking together in sunlight. Those two groups of pollutants are produced from burning fossil fuels and certain chemical evaporation.
Breathing ozone gas damages tissues, like a “sunburn of the lung,” exacerbating asthma for example. Research is emerging linking premature death to exposure to air pollution.
Bellingham tied for the lowest number of “high ozone days” in the country, with zero days over a three-year average.
Back to the bad news, Bellingham ranked 34th worst out of 223 metropolitan areas for short-term (24-hour) particle pollution. Seattle ranked 28th worst. Snohomish County’s average of six high particle days per year between 2019 and 2021 places it between the two metro areas. The report covers data through 2021.
Bad air quality can happen at any time of year, but data shows that severe “unhealthy” days in Snohomish County are the most common from July through September.
Dr. Zachariah Dorey-Stein, a pulmonologist with The Everett Clinic, said smoke pollution can cause patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to end up more frequently in urgent care or the emergency room — or even lead to hospitalization. Long-term, these lung disorders could become more common because of “environmental exposure.”
So what should people do during those unhealthy-for-everyone air quality days?
“Individuals with known intrinsic lung disease should take all precautions to avoid exposure to smoke,” Dorey-Stein said in an email. For healthy folks, he added: “I would advocate limiting exposure so as to avoid the lifelong exposure that could result in impairment of their lung function and onset of shortness of breath, cough, sputum production, and physical activity impairment.”
A couple walks their dog through Grand Avenue Park as smoke from the Bolt Creek wildfire shrouds Naval Station Everett in the distance on Oct. 15, 2022, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Cleaning up the air is a challenge, one that the county will continue to address in the climate change portion of the comprehensive plan, currently being updated. Prescribed forest burns could be another, counter-intuitive approach. Even though those fires pollute the air, they could mitigate the severe smoke from large, uncontrolled wildfires.
Nyssen told The Daily Herald it’s important for people to pay attention to current air quality, and to limit outdoor activities when the air is particularly dirty. Daily readings are at airnow.gov, and are sometimes included in weather apps.
Joy Borkholder: 425-339-3430; joy.borkholder@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @jlbinvestigates.
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