These Are MD's Top 10 Most-Polluted Cities, Report Says

MARYLAND — Wildfires in Canada last year led to widespread concerns about air quality, as haze and smoke prompted alerts in Maryland and elsewhere in the country. The smoke obscured city skylines, canceled outdoor activities and decreased visibility in much of the Mid-Atlantic region.

The poor air quality conditions were of particular concern for those with asthma and lung conditions.

The World Health Organization noted that air pollution causes one out of every nine deaths worldwide and considers air pollution to be the greatest environmental threat to human health. Poor air quality exacerbates health conditions such as asthma, stroke, lung disease, and cancer.

A new study from IQAir has pollution statistics for cities around the world from 2018 to 2023. The report examined 7,812 locations across the world using data collected from air quality monitoring stations. Any measurement below 5.0 met WHO standards.

More than two dozen Maryland cities had air pollution levels that exceeded WHO standards by two to nearly three times. The worst-ranked community was North Potomac, which topped cities in the state in terms of poor air quality.

However, to keep it in perspective, North Potomac's air quality index was 13.3. Compare that to Delhi, India, which last week was at 347, or Dhaka, Bangladesh at 185, or Milano, Italy at 143.

The most-polluted municipality in the U.S. was Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, a town of 5,740, which came in at 19.9.

Here are Maryland's top 10 most-polluted cities, according to IQAir, with numbers expressing the concentration of air pollutants in micrograms per cubic meter of air:

1. North Potomac: 13.3
2. Parkville: 13.3
3. Oxon Hill: 12.6
4. Kensington: 12.5
5. Capitol Heights: 12.4
6. Potomac: 12.4
7. Baltimore: 12.3
8. Glen Burnie: 12.2
9. Lusby: 12.2
10. Bowie: 12.1

Read the full study from IQAir here.