The Lung Institute’s national five-year study ranks locations based on smoking rates and pollution levels. Valley News/Lightfield Studios photo
COLUMBUS, Ind. – The Lung Institute, a source for pulmonary information for better lung health, including disease prevention and management, commissioned a national study to establish a ranking of lung health across America, over a five-year period. The data analysis factored the following statistics from the last five years: the change in smoking rate in each state, as well as the change in pollution level, measured in PM2.5, which is the average daily density of fine particulate matter in micrograms per cubic meter.This ranking determined that Virginia placed in position No. 1. Virginia was the state with the best lung health improvement over five years, experiencing a 5% decreased smoking rate, as well as a decreased volume of air pollution over this time, PM2.5 decreased by 5.
