Oklahoma City ranked as one of the worst cities in the US for air pollution

The Oklahoma City metro area has risen to one of the worst cities in the country for air pollution, reports the American Lung Association.

The 2024 State of the Air report ranked Oklahoma City as the 25th most polluted by annual particle pollution. Though the metro area was less affected by wildfire smoke in this year’s report, OKC is still grappling with pollutionfrom local industrial and mobile sources, the report states, as well as high ozone days.

When air quality levels dip to unhealthy, sensitive groups should avoid the outside if possible. Current air quality for Oklahoma City including a map can be found at AirNow.gov.

What is particle pollution?

Air quality is measured in ozone and particulate matter, or PM, which is mostly made up of particle pollution.

Particle pollution is a mix of particles around the size of the diameter of a human hair or smaller. Wildfires and burning gasoline both put particles into the atmosphere, bringing down the air quality.

Smog is a combination of ozone and PM, according to Caltech. The air quality measurement is essentially measuring how much smog is in the air. Breathing ozone inflames lung tissue in the same way a bad sunburn would, making it more difficult to breathe properly, especially during exercise.

Particles are measured in two ways:

• PM10 are particles up to 10 microns across. Sources of PM 10 include dust and combusted particulates from various sources including cars, wildfires, construction, landfills, agriculture, waste burning, industry, as well as bacterial fragments.
• PM2.5 are particles that are less than 2.5 microns across. These smaller particles are made up of the same as PM10, but cause more problems for lungs because they travel deeper in.

The Department of Environmental Quality issues email and text alerts for high ozone days and high particle pollution days.

Who is at risk?

The ALA states that there is no safe threshold to breathe in fine particles, but some people are

at risk than others.

Risk factors combine to multiply the impact of breathing ozone and particulates. These include exposure, susceptibility, access to healthcare, and psychosocial stress which can all worsen the effects. People of color and people experiencing poverty are disproportionately affected by polluted air.

Does pollen make air quality worse?

Though allergens can result in sinus trouble, these particles typically must be broken down in order to cause a problem for our lungs. When intact, pollen particulates are generally 10 microns or larger. Air quality measurements do not usually pick it up because they typically measure particles 2.5 microns across or smaller.

Some measurements use particles up to 10 microns across, which would pick up some pollen. However, when pollen breaks up in the rain, it starts to make the air quality worse because the particulates are now small enough to cause a problem.