Catching a Breath: Air Quality and Climate in Greater Cincinnati

Contributors: Nobi Kennedy, Bamidele Osamika, Leah Ross, Mitch Singstock, Anna Parnigoni, Savannah Sullivan, and Viviana Saldarriaga 

This piece is a part of Green Umbrella’s 2024 PSA Campaign on climate health impacts, highlighting a recent report completed with Scioto Analysis which was supported in part by bi3, HealthPath, and the Interact for Health Data for Equity grant.

On a hot day in Sharonville in 2010, 16-year-old Elbert Jovante Woods, son of Ickey Woods, former All-Pro running back for the Cincinnati Bengals, came home complaining of tightness in his chest before collapsing and ultimately, passing away. Jovante was diagnosed with asthma at two years old but managed with an inhaler and preventative medicine. Despite the diagnosis, his family was not aware of the fatal risks associated with the illness, particularly on days with low air quality.

This tragic story is unfortunately not as uncommon as you might think in our region. As of 2024, the Greater Cincinnati area was ranked the 22nd worst city in the US for year-round average particulate pollution (also called PM, a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets in the air and a common measurement for air quality), and a recent American Lung Association report ranked the Cincinnati metro area 42nd worst in the nation for ozone pollution, also known as “smog.” Of a population of 2.3 million people in our region, there were over a reported 39,000 cases of pediatric asthma, 204,00 cases of adult asthma, and 173,000 cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the last year. Since 1990, an average of 135 Ohio citizens die from asthma annually, with adult women, Black and low-income residents significantly more at risk.

These statistics are part of a global trend of concerns over air quality. According to a 2023 report by IQAir, only seven countries met the World Health Organization’s air quality guidelines for pollution in 2023. While the US has made progress improving air quality in recent decades, air pollution is still a driver of many serious health conditions both domestically and globally. In addition to asthma and COPD, small particles in greenhouse gases or smoke have the ability to travel through our lungs into our bloodstream, causing inflammation and damage leading to cardiovascular diseases, neurological disorders, and even adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Air pollution is responsible for nearly seven million premature deaths worldwide every year, and climate change is exacerbating these impacts. WVXU recently spoke to Ken Fletcher, advocacy director for the American Lung Association: “Climate change is making air pollution more likely to form and more difficult to clean up”, Fletcher reported. The majority of pollutants in our air are from the burning of fossil fuels. By burning fewer fossil fuels we not only improve our air, but also improve our health and the health of our community. Fletcher continued, “there are actions we can and must take to improve air quality.” Greater Cincinnati is taking these steps, but it’s important to understand the history of the air quality movement and who is most impacted by air quality risks to ensure an equitable regional approach to these challenges.

The Queen City’s Smokey Past

In the late 19th century, Cincinnati was an ambitious and thriving industrial center and a transportation hub for riverboats and railcars. As the industry grew, concerns about lingering smoke trapped in the valley and its impacts on community health heightened. This was not just a regional problem – during this time period, episodes of smog in cities like New York and London resulted in many deaths. Air pollution continued to be a significant problem through the middle of the 20th century. In late October of 1948, 20 people were asphyxiated and more than 7,000 became seriously ill as the result of severe air pollution over Donora, Pennsylvania.In addition to the 1969 Cuyahoga River fire in northern Ohio, the 1948 Donora incident led to the creation of the Air Pollution Control Act of 1955, which provided funds for federal research in air pollution.

Locally, as research began to unveil the sources of smoke and its negative toll on society, grassroots efforts to create and enforce smoke control ordinances in Cincinnati became more prevalent. These efforts, alongside state and nationwide organizing, led to the passing of the 1963 Clean Air Act, the first federal legislation regarding air pollution control. This was followed by the formation of the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and associated state-level offices in 1970. An Ohio statewide Air Quality Index was established in 1973, which alerted the public to poor air quality and when it might adversely affect the health of sensitive populations, and Kentucky and Indiana also implemented similar monitoring systems with the Kentucky Air Pollution Control Commission established in 1966 “requiring that all discharges of material into the air must be reported and registered with the Commission.” Indiana’s air quality fight found a voice alongside the Indiana women’s movement, targeting both coal-burning housewives, as well as industry at large. It became part of a larger movement of women concerned with air pollution across the country and helped make it a national issue during the 1970s. The EPA later created the national air quality standard in 1979.

History of Disparity

The negative health effects of air pollution hurt BIPOC communities and those with lower socioeconomic status the most. Decades of racist banking practices prevented people of color from securing fair financing which led to a legacy of divestment and socioeconomic inequality. One of these practices, called “redlining,” constrained who could get decent mortgages for good homes and where those homes could be built. This often resulted with Black residents and populations of color being forced to live in areas subject to environmental hazards, including in close proximity to toxic waste sites, dangerous drinking water, flood zones, and areas with higher rates of air and noise pollution. Planners of the interstate highway system routed highways directly, and sometimes purposefully, through Black and brown communities and industrial plants burdened neighborhoods, reducing community greenspace into brownfields and concentrating traffic pollution.

Additionally, people of color are disproportionately exposed to air pollution that is primarily caused by white Americans’ consumption habits. According to a 2019 article published in Science Daily, “white Americans consume greater amounts of pollution-intensive goods and services…[and] are responsible for the creation of more PM2.5 pollution than other racial groups.” Black Americans and Hispanic populations tend to live in locations with higher PM2.5 concentrations than white Americans, increasing their average daily exposure to the pollution.

“Energy Poverty” also holds a strong correlation to poorer air quality. According to the World Health Organization, populations suffering from energy poverty “lack the resources to obtain cleaner fuels and devices” due to cost or availability. This is prevalent for people in lower-income households and many in the Global South or low-income countries. In the US, energy poverty is driven more by factors of inequity. The cost of energy access pushes communities to alternative, often dangerous methods of heating and cooling or to forgo use at all, decreasing overall indoor air quality and increasing the need for metrics such as the energy equity gap to better understand the impact of disproportionate burdens on communities.

Our Next Breath

A combination of systems-level change and individual action must be implemented to confront these inequities and improve air quality for all in our region and beyond. Example actions you or your community can take today include:

• Running health assessments of new developments, and transitioning current developments to efficient buildings that burn less fossil fuels (local businesses and governments can complete an energy audit to identify ways to minimize energy waste through our Greater Cincinnati 2030 District)
• Advocate for stronger national limits on ozone pollution
• Reduce emissions from industrial plants and fossil fuels
  • Use renewable energy from sources like wind, solar, and electric power
  • Support public transportation
  • Advocate for stricter emissions regulations
• Prioritize sustainable affordable housing along public transit lines
• Engage and increase community leadership and buy-in
• Enforce indoor and outdoor air quality standards via policy change
• Subsidized clean energy and mass transportation methods
• Drive less and use more sustainable vehicles/walk, bike, or carpool to keep emissions down
• Transition appliances to renewable energy sources 
• Avoid wasting energy or electricity in the home or office
• Increase number of indoor plants and air purifiers if available

And here are some simple, effective ways to protect yourself:

• Check air pollution forecasts – airnow.gov, Air Quality Hamilton County 
• Avoid exercising when air quality is low and pollution levels are high

On days where air quality is poor: 

• Reduce the time you spend outdoors
• Wear a mask to filter out fine particles
• Keep indoor quality healthy by keeping doors and windows shut
• Staying indoors with A/C or HEPA air filter

You can be an air quality leader in your community. Learn more and contact your local officials at the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services, Kentucky Division of Air Quality, and Indiana Department of Environmental Management, Office of Air Quality.

Learn More

Webinar: Climate Change, Air Quality and Health Outcomes in Greater Cincinnati

Watch the recording of the seventh installment of the Climate Health Public Service Announcement Webinar Series, Climate Change, Air Quality and Health Outcomes in Greater Cincinnati, on YouTube. Our guest speaker is Patrick H. Ryan, PhD and Professor at the University of Cincinnati.

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Infographics – download and share!

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Sources:

1. NFL Great Ickey Woods Shares His Son’s Asthma Story 
2. American Lung Association Most Polluted Cities 
3. Particle Pollution and Your Patients’ Health
4. Cincinnati Ranks 22nd Most Polluted City in the U.S., According to 2024 Annual ‘State of the Air’ Report.
5. Ohio Department of Health Data and Statistics.
6. 2023 IQAir World Air Quality Report
7. EPA: How Does PM Affect Human Health?
8. PBS: Why air quality is getting worse in many places and how it puts human health at risk
9. WVXU: Greater Cincinnati ranks poorly on the American Lung Association’s air quality report
10. EPA: Sources and Solutions: Fossil Fuels
11. https://www.hcdoes.org/281/History
12. National Ocean Service: Sources and Solutions: Fossil Fuels
13. National Park Service: The 1969 Cuyahoga River Fire
14. Evolution of the Clean Air Act
15. Progress in the Prevention and Control of Air Pollution in 1979: Annual Report of the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to the Congress of the United States
16. The sordid history of housing discrimination in America
17. A Brief History Of How Racism Shaped Interstate Highways
18. ‘The burden of the industrial past’: City aims to clean, re-imagine blighted, dangerous sites
19. US black and Hispanic minorities bear disproportionate burden from air pollution
20.  Energy poverty: effects on development, society, and environment Europe, Middle East and Africa
21. WHO: Equity impacts of air pollution
22. Unveiling Hidden Energy Poverty using the energy equity gap
23. Carnegie Mellon University: Hidden energy poverty revealed by energy equity gap
24. 10 Tips to Protect Yourself from Unhealthy Air
25. Protecting Yourself from Poor Air Quality