Trevor Summerfield, director of advocacy with the American Lung Association, joins “In Focus” to discuss his organizations groundbreaking “2022 State of the Air Report” as part of the “In Focus” medical check-up.

The annual air quality “report card” tracks and grades Americans’ exposure to ozone and particle pollution. The report shows 22.5 million residents in the New York metro area are exposed to unhealthy air, with the region ranking 14 on the list of 25 most-ozone polluted cities.

Bronx, Manhattan and Queens counties all logged failing grades.

Summerfield discusses how these findings affect New Yorker’s health and who is most at risk. Nationwide, nearly 9 million more people were impacted by deadly particle pollution than last year and 137 million Americans live in counties that had unhealthy levels of ozone particle pollution.

Summerfield explains what needs to be done both locally and federally to address the issues and why communities of color are disproportionately exposed to unhealthy air. The report finds people of color are 61% more likely than white people to live in a county with a failing grade for at least one pollutant.

The “2022 State of the Air Report” also includes data from 2020 and offers a first look at air quality trends during the COVID pandemic. Summerfield shares possible explanations of why the report indicates no obvious improvements in air quality during lockdown and if there’s a way to turn this all around.

It’s not all bad news: for the first time in more than two decades, New York recorded its best ozone level this year and is saying goodbye to the list of 25 worst cities in the country for year-round particle pollution.