See How Dirty Your DC, NoVA Community's Air Is: Lung Association

VIRGINIA — The Washington, D.C., metropolitan area received another failing grade for its smog from the American Lung Association, but the annual study reported that the region experienced fewer unhealthy days due to smog.

In its 2022 “State of the Air” report, released Thursday, the American Lung Association looked at two of the most widespread and dangerous air pollutants — fine particles and ozone. The Washington-Baltimore-Arlington area posted another “F” grade for ozone, ranking 30th most polluted in the country, according to the report.

Compared to the 2021 report, though, the Washington-Baltimore-Arlington metro area had fewer unhealthy days of high ozone. The region’s 30th most polluted ranking for ozone smog was an improvement from its 22nd ranking in the 2021 report.

For fine particle pollution, the region received a “C” and ranked 63rd worst in the country.

Particle pollution comes from many sources, including wildfires, wood-burning devices, coal plants and diesel engines. Particulate matter is dangerous because it becomes lodged deep in the lungs and can enter the bloodstream, triggering asthma attacks, heart attacks and strokes, and, in some cases, causing lung cancer.

Ozone is an odorless, colorless gas that is a component of smog.

“The levels of ozone and particle pollution seen in the Washington-Baltimore-Arlington metro area can harm the health of all of our residents, but particularly at risk are children, older adults, pregnant people and those living with chronic disease," Aleks Casper, director of advocacy for the American Lung Association, said in a statement Thursday.

The region "did see improvements in the levels of both daily ozone smog and year-round fine particle pollution, matching the previous best ever recorded in the 2017 report for ozone and newly reaching the area’s best-ever average level of fine particles,” Casper said.

Here's what the report found for Virginia communities, plus the District of Columbia, (DNC indicates that there is no monitor collecting data in the county):

• Alexandria City: Ozone - DNC; Particle pollution - DNC
• Arlington County: Ozone - C; Particle pollution - A
• Fairfax County: Ozone - C; Particle pollution - A
• Fairfax City: Ozone - DNC; Particle pollution - DNC
• Falls Church City: Ozone - DNC; Particle pollution - DNC
• Fredericksburg City: Ozone - DNC; Particle pollution - DNC
• Loudoun County: Ozone - B; Particle pollution - A
• Manassas City: Ozone - DNC; Particle pollution - DNC
• Prince William County: Ozone - A; Particle pollution - DNC
• District of Columbia: Ozone - F; Particle pollution - C

No Air Quality Improvements From COVID Shutdowns

The “State of the Air” report is the American Lung Association’s annual air quality “report card” that tracks and grades Americans’ exposure to unhealthy levels of ground-level ozone air pollution (also known as smog), annual particle pollution and short-term spikes in particle pollution, over a three-year period. This year’s report covers 2018-2020.

The addition of 2020 data to the 2022 “State of the Air” report gives a first look at air quality trends during the COVID-19 pandemic. Regardless of the shutdowns and traffic starting in early 2020, there was no obvious improvement in air quality, the Lung Association found.

Nationwide, nearly 9 million more people were harmed by deadly particle pollution than reported in the 2021 report. The latest report showed more days with “very unhealthy” and “hazardous” air quality than ever before in the two-decade history of this report. Overall, more than 137 million Americans live in counties that had unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution.

Los Angeles remained the city with the worst ozone. Here are the 10 places in the U.S. most polluted by ozone:

1. Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA
2. Bakersfield, CA
3. Visalia, CA
4. Fresno-Madera-Hanford, CA
5. Phoenix-Mesa, AZ
6. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA
7. Denver-Aurora, CO
8. Houston-The Woodlands, TX
9. Sacramento-Roseville, CA
10. Salt Lake City-Provo-Orem, UT

The Washington-Baltimore-Arlington area’s short-term particle pollution worsened in 2022, which means there were more unhealthy days, representing the first time the area’s daily particle pollution level worsened over the previous year since the 2005 report, according to the Lung Association.

Despite worsening from a “B” to a “C” grade, the area’s rank improved from 57th to 63rd worst because of the increase in the number of areas in the western United States with high levels in this year’s report.

The 2022 “State of the Air” report found that year-round particle pollution levels in the Washington-Baltimore-Arlington metro area — as opposed to the short-term particle pollution — returned to their previous long-term trend of improving over the previous year’s report. The area ranked 75th most polluted for year-round particle pollution in the United States, much better than its ranking of 39th last year.

RELATED: DC, NoVa Region Endured 86 Days With High Levels Of Air Pollution