Tell lawmakers - It's time to address Michigan's dismal air quality

For the past decade, ozone pollution in Detroit has consistently been above the air quality standard.

When ozone pollution is above the air quality standard, state regulators are required to spring to action and develop plans to lower ozone pollution. But our top environmental regulator, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) has yet to take the action mandated by the Clean Air Act to lower ozone pollution.

Michigan’s lack of action to address ozone pollution has real consequences for our health - like some of the nation's most prevalent asthma rates.

It’s time for Michigan to protect our right to breathe clean air. Tell EGLE to stop ignoring Detroit’s ozone and asthma crises!

For the past decade, ozone pollution in Detroit has consistently been above the air quality standard.

When ozone pollution is above the air quality standard, state regulators are required to spring to action and develop plans to lower ozone pollution. But our top environmental regulator, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) has yet to take the action mandated by the Clean Air Act to lower ozone pollution.

Michigan’s lack of action to address ozone pollution has real consequences for our health - like some of the nation's most prevalent asthma rates.

It’s time for Michigan to protect our right to breathe clean air. Tell EGLE to stop ignoring Detroit’s ozone and asthma crises!

Tell lawmakers: It's time to address Michigan's dismal air quality

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For the past decade, ozone pollution in Detroit has consistently been above the air quality standard. This health-based standard ensures our right to breathe clean air and protects children from asthma attacks. When ozone pollution is above the air quality standard, state regulators are required to spring to action and develop plans to lower ozone pollution.

But the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) has yet to take the action mandated by the Clean Air Act to lower ozone pollution in Detroit, such as requiring local industrial facilities to adopt pollution control technology to lower ozone causing pollution.

Instead, Michigan has sought to exclude 21 days of high ozone pollution from Detroit’s air quality record over the past four years, claiming that wildfire smoke has heavily impacted ozone levels on each of these days.

The science says otherwise. According to Michigan’s own studies, ozone pollution is expected to remain above the air quality standard in the future. Additionally, EGLE's own analysis has found that any impacts from wildfire smoke are minimal; local sources of pollution, such as industrial facilities and automotive traffic, are the main cause of Detroit’s high ozone levels.

Michigan’s lack of action to address ozone pollution has real consequences for our health. Ozone is well known to cause a variety of health impacts, including asthma attacks. In 2025, Detroit was dubbed the asthma capital of the United States by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. Detroit’s 48205 zip code, on the City’s Eastside, has both some of the highest levels of ozone pollution and highest asthma hospitalization rate in Michigan.

Even more concerning, asthma hospitalizations are becoming more frequent in 48205. According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the asthma hospitalization rate in this zip code increased by nearly 50% in recent years and is now over 11 times the Michigan average.

It’s time for Michigan to protect our right to breathe clean air—and we need your help. We ask that you hold EGLE accountable to:

1. Stop ignoring Detroit’s ozone and asthma crises.
2. Take immediate action to lower ozone pollution in Detroit so that our children can play outside in the summertime without worrying about whether or not they may have an asthma attack. 
3. Withdraw its request to re-designate the Detroit area to attainment for the ozone air quality standard.

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