"Recipe" for ozone: Wildfires, transportation emissions, contribute to dismal air quality grade in Bernalillo County

Apr. 24—The American Lung Association on Wednesday released its 2024 State of the Air Report, which gave Bernalillo County a dismal report card on ozone and particulate matter pollution.

But the grades — an F for both the number of high ozone days and for annual particle pollution — may have been affected by wildfires in New Mexico and surrounding states between 2020 and 2022, which pushed up pollution levels.

The data run through 2022, the same year as the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire, which burned across hundreds of thousands of acres of public land and private property, making it the largest recorded fire in the state's history.

The average number of high ozone days jumped from 7.8 on average from 2019 to 2021 to 11.8 average days in an overlapping period, 2020-22. The number of high particulate pollution days increased from 2.3 to 6 between the same time periods.

Drought, wildfires and car-centric cities make the Southwest particularly vulnerable to high levels of pollution, said JoAnna Strother, senior director of advocacy for the ALA representing Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada.

"We just have the climate, I always say, the perfect recipe to make ozone," Strother said.

Including Bernalillo County, the Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Las Vegas area was identified in the ALA report as the 21st worst among 228 metropolitan areas for ozone pollution.

Recipe for ozonePatrick Hudson, senior environmental scientist for the city of Albuquerque's Environmental Health Department, said Albuquerque's high altitude, increasing UV exposure, and hot summers are components for ozone production. Add in volatile organic compounds — which in New Mexico, Hudson said, are often produced by wildfires — and the area is primed to create the pollutant.

Wildfires can also increase particulate pollution, Hudson said, as decreased vegetation bares the soil, allowing the wind to pick up additional dust.

Hudson said that when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency evaluates whether the city is in compliance with national air quality standards, air agencies can petition for "exceptional events" — events that may increase pollution but may not be reasonably controlled through regulations. But the American Lung Association's data does not include that context, Hudson said. More than 3.2 average days per year of high ozone or high particulate matter results in a failing grade.

"In some ways, that's fair," Hudson said. "It's not like we can hold our breath when there's a wildfire in California and just wait for it to pass — we're exposed to that pollution. But they're taking a more stringent approach to how they assess the data."

Earlier this year, the EPA introduced a new rule that reduced the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for particulate matter by 25%. Hudson said in the future, it could impact the department.

"Before, we were in compliance," Hudson said. "With this new rule, we are not in compliance. That will have some regulatory implications — most likely, it's up to the EPA to deem whether or not we're in exceedance. On paper, our number is greater than the standard."

Health impacts and what to doStrother said ozone and particular matter pollution can cause or exacerbate health conditions like asthma, heart and lung conditions. She recommended people stay apprised of daily air quality reports in their area and limit outdoor exposure on high-pollution days.

Hudson recommends visiting the interactive AirNow map to see up-to-date information about air quality in your area. Maia Rodriguez, a spokesperson for EHD, said people can sign up for text alerts about air quality by texting "ABQHEALTH" or "ABQSALUD", for alerts in Spanish, to 226787.

SolutionsHudson said at least on the ozone metric, it may be difficult to improve the county's grade given the ALA rubric.

"Just from an ozone perspective, given that we have an ozone season here, because of our elevation and our UV exposure, and the potential for wildfires in the region, it's going to be extremely, extremely challenging for us to ever not fail," Hudson said.

But there are some measures that Hudson and Strother said could decrease pollution, including the electrification of transportation and municipal fleets. The city has slowly but surely been increasing the number of electric vehicles on city lots.

Decreasing the burning of fossil fuels could also move the needle, Strother said, as well as increasing investments in incentives for personal electric vehicle adoption and EV infrastructure. Hudson agreed removing just one ingredient for ozone production, like emissions from cars, could decrease production.

"I know that's a big deal when we look at that in New Mexico," Strother said. "So much funding for the state comes from the oil and gas industry. However ... there is also a price on our health."