Travelers flying into Pittsburgh can see the dirty brown blanket that is the region’s air quality problem, even if those who live under it cannot.

That’s part of the problem and a big reason air pollution continues to impact human health in the region, according to Joel Schwartz, an environmental epidemiology professor at the Harvard University School of Public Health.

Although the region’s air is cleaner than it has been in a century, it should be much better than it is, said Mr. Schwartz, the keynote speaker today at a regional summit on air quality and health. The summit, at Marriott Pittsburgh City Center, Downtown, begins at 8 a.m. and is free to the public.

“People living here may not be able to see it, but if you’re coming into the region from outside of it you can certainly see this hazy stuff sitting on top of the city and region,” Mr. Schwartz said. “You can see it from a plane. You can see it from a satellite. You can see the particle haze from space.

“It’s too easy for a community that had horrific air pollution to say it’s cleaner. Small particle pollution is 50 percent higher in Pittsburgh than in Boston. Why should people in Pittsburgh put up with that? It’s perfectly possible to get down to those lower pollution levels because lots of places have.”

The daylong summit, sponsored by Allegheny General Hospital and the Heinz Endowments Breathe Project, will include presentations and reviews of studies detailing the regional health effects caused by the region’s air pollution over the past 40 years, including its impacts on birth outcomes, cancer, cardiopulmonary illnesses and premature deaths.

continue readinga Pittsburgh summit explores health effects of air pollution – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.