Connecticut’s air in 2008 was the best in decades. Every pollutant except carbon monoxide showed improvement.
{air pollution trends}
Six air pollutants -- sulfur dioxide, lead, carbon monoxide, particles, nitrogen dioxide, and ground-level ozone -- are measured across the state by the DEP. At the end of every year, the Council expresses the average level of each pollutant on a numerical scale, where zero equals no pollution and 100 represents the “unhealthful” level of the specified pollutant. The Council then takes this annual number for each of the six pollutants and averages them to yield the single index value on this graph. Levels of lead in the air have dropped so low that they barely register in this indicator. Following several years of measurable improvement, 2005 was the first year since 1994 to see all of the pollutants (excluding lead) get worse. In 2006, all pollutants except particles showed improvement, and in 2007 all pollutants except ground-level ozone showed improvement. Every measure except carbon monoxide showed improvement in 2008.
