Children's Air Crisis.
New Report: Nearly Half of US Children Live in Counties With Failing Air Quality.
Nearly half of all US children live in counties with failing air quality, according to the 2026 State of the Air Report released by the American Lung Association. More than 4 in 10 Americans of all ages are still breathing unhealthy air, according to KOCO News.
Wildfires and extreme heat are driving the decline, according to WCVB. While the numbers show a slight improvement from last year, the overall trend is getting worse — and health experts warn it could deteriorate even further.
Wildfires and Heat Are Choking American Air
The main culprits behind failing air quality are extreme heat and more frequent wildfires, according to WLKY. Both problems are getting worse as the climate changes. Wildfires send massive amounts of smoke and tiny particles into the air. Those particles are small enough to enter the lungs and cause serious health problems.
The report grades air quality across the country by county. A failing grade means the area regularly has dangerous levels of air pollution. Many of those failing counties are home to millions of children whose lungs are still developing — making them especially vulnerable to dirty air.
Communities of Color Bear the Heaviest Burden
The report found that communities of color are more than twice as likely to live in an area with a failing air pollution grade compared to white people, according to WBAL-TV. That gap shows that dirty air is not just a health problem — it is also a fairness problem.
Researchers have long documented that lower-income neighborhoods and communities of color are more likely to sit near highways, factories, and other pollution sources. The new report adds to that body of evidence and calls the disparity a serious public health concern.
EPA Rollbacks Threaten Future Air Quality Gains
The American Lung Association issued a sharp warning about the US Environmental Protection Agency. The group says the EPA is rolling back major clean air protections, according to KOCO News. These are rules designed to limit pollution from power plants, vehicles, and industry. The Association expects the rollbacks to make air quality worse in the years ahead.
The warning comes at a moment when air quality data is already heading in the wrong direction. Health advocates say weakening these rules now could erase years of progress. The EPA has not publicly responded to the Association's specific concerns about the report's findings.
Only One City Aced Every Air Quality Measure
Out of every city in America, only one place made the cleanest city list across all measures of air pollution, according to WMTW. The report tracks multiple types of pollution, including ozone and short-term and year-round particle pollution. Scoring clean across all three categories is rare — and this year, just a single metro area managed it.
The finding underlines how widespread the problem is. Clean air is not the norm for most Americans. The American Lung Association is calling on federal and local leaders to strengthen — not weaken — the rules that protect the air people breathe every day.
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