SAN DIEGO — The state of California had the worst air quality in America in 2018, according to a recent study published by CPAP.com. Researchers looking at government sources including the EPA Air Quality Index Report and the CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System also found that five of the top 10 cities in America for air pollution – including San Diego – are located in California.
CPAP.com’s report called "Air Quality and Health Outcomes: Is The Air Making You Sick?" includes data on all 50 US states and researchers say they found “interesting correlations between air quality, overall health, and income level.”
The study attributes the poor air quality in California in 2018 to industrial output in the state as well as the large-scale wildfires that year.
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The deadly and destructive 2018 wildfire season in California included the Camp Fire in Butte County, the Carr Fire in Shasta County, and the Mendocino Complex Fire which incorporated the Ranch and River fires; the Ranch fire by itself was the largest fire in the state's history.
CPAP.com's report scored each state on a scale from 1 – being the least air pollution, to 8 – being the most air pollution. California scored an 8 followed closely by Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Alaska.
On the flip side, the states of Vermont, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming scored a 1.
In addition to San Diego, other cities in California that made the top 10 list for air pollution across the country include Riverside, Los Angeles, Bakersfield and Sacramento. San Diego ranked #5 on that list.
San Diego also ranked among the worst major cities in the US for air quality with research showing the city only had 73 days in which it scored a “good” air quality rating in 2018. The average among major cities was 215 “good” air quality days and among all cities the average was 286 that year.
So, what does poor air quality mean for residents in San Diego and the rest of the state? The CPAP.com study cites the World Health Organization which reports “an estimated 4.2 million premature deaths globally are linked to ambient air pollution.”
Looking at correlations between air quality and poor health, researchers were able to link several states with high air pollution ratings with alarming health outcomes ranging from bad mental health days to cardiovascular deaths.
One counter-intuitive finding, according to the research, deemed that despite California’s poor air quality, there was only a weak correlation between how the state’s residents health fared considering its air pollution. The data did find, however, that that 34.5% of Californians are getting insufficient sleep.
The report also draws parallels between air pollution and high rates of poverty along with low public health spending.
“The states whose governments spent less than $100 per resident in 2018 also found their way at or above the median for poor air quality,” according to the study.
CPAP.com’s findings showed that 31.8% of the Californians lived in low-income neighborhoods in 2018. On the other side of the spectrum, three of states that scored highest for good air quality – Vemont, North Dakota and New Hampshire – had less than 5% of residents in low-income neighborhoods in 2018.
Data and charts courtesy of CPAP.com's blog where the company shares information and resources related to sleep apnea and CPAP users. Click here to view CPAP.com’s full report.
