Six Iowa counties received failing grades for unhealthy ozone levels, while Polk County received a D, per the latest American Lung Association report.
Why it matters: Ozone pollution can irritate lungs, trigger asthma attacks and make breathing harder, especially for children, seniors and people with lung disease.
State of play: The report uses rolling three-year monitoring data.
- Iowa’s latest ozone results, covering 2022–2024, are mostly unchanged from the previous year’s report.
Yes, but: The measure of “bad air days” caused by tiny particles — often from sources like wildfire smoke or diesel exhaust — improved slightly in the latest report…