Op-Ed: The air our children breathe shouldn’t be up for debate

This piece was originally published in Bridge Detroit on July 12, 2026 and written by Mia McPherson, BSN. RN, and Mary-Jacqueline Muli, RN, BSN. 

It is dangerously hot and humid in downtown Detroit this summer. Along with the heat comes worsening air quality. 

Heat and sunlight work together to catalyze the formation of ground-level ozone, the primary component of smog. This is a dangerous type of air pollution that irritates the sensitive lining of the lungs when inhaled. This can make it harder for some people to breathe and lead to serious medical conditions like asthma attacks.

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) recently issued an air quality alert, warning of high levels of ground-level ozone for several counties in Southeast and West Michigan. The state encouraged residents to drive less and avoid refueling vehicles, using charcoal lighter fluid, or using gas-powered lawn equipment in order to minimize the immediate health risks of dangerously high ozone levels. 

With another heat wave on the horizon, that may raise ozone levels again, these actions may help residents avoid trouble in the moment, but they conveniently leave out discussion of the larger footprint generated by transportation and industrial sources while disregarding the long-term health impacts of chronic exposure to ozone pollution. 

For the last decade, ozone concentrations recorded at Detroit’s East Seven Mile air quality monitoring station have consistently exceeded the EPA’s health-based standard of 70 parts per billion. Asthma hospitalizations on the east side of Detroit are nearly 10 times higher than the rest of the state and continue to rise. No wonder that Detroit consistently ranks as one of the most challenging cities in the U.S. for asthma sufferers. 

Ozone levels across the country have increased in recent years, driven in part by more frequent climate-fueled wildfires, as well as rising temperatures. Wildfire smoke is no longer an isolated “exceptional event,” but has become a recurring and largely unavoidable feature of Michigan summers. 

Given this reality, efforts to improve air quality must focus on pollution sources we can control like transportation and industrial emissions. Yet, EGLE continues to appeal to federal officials to declare southeast Michigan as meeting ozone air quality standards. The state aims to do this using a legal loophole that excludes 21 days of ozone data from six monitoring sites over the past four years, pinning the blame on wildfire smoke, a source of emissions that cannot be controlled.

Leaving out troubling data may improve regulatory metrics, but it fails to actually address the cumulative health burden of poor air quality that Detroit residents experience year after year.

As nurses, we can tell you that ozone pollution has lasting, lifelong health consequences, especially for infants and children.

Children’s lungs are not fully developed at birth, so chronic exposure to air pollution can stunt airway growth, leading to smaller lungs and reduced lung function. This can make it harder for children to breathe, especially on days with poor air quality. Elevated ozone levels are also linked to preterm birth, stillbirth, and certain birth defects. Even small increases in ozone are associated with higher rates of school absences and impaired cognitive development. 

Regardless of how the state wants to classify ozone standards, southeast Michigan residents are still living with the chronic, cumulative health impacts of air pollution, and the data make clear that ozone levels remain unacceptably high. 

Families raising children in these communities deserve more than regulatory maneuvers that mask the problem—they deserve clean air and meaningful action to protect their health. Children, who are especially vulnerable to the harmful effects of ozone pollution, should be at the heart of EGLE’s mission. 

We urge EGLE to live up to its vision of “respecting people and fostering thriving communities” by taking decisive action to reduce emissions from sources within our control, including transportation corridors, freight traffic, and industrial facilities. Real progress will not come from reclassifying the problem, but from reducing the pollution that continues to threaten the health of southeast Michigan residents.

Mia McPherson BSN, RN is an adult oncology and public health nurse in southeast Michigan. She is an active member of Michigan Clinicians for Climate Action and recently began a position as the Michigan Nurse Advocacy Coordinator with the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE) to advance clean energy policies on local and state levels.

Mary-Jacqueline Muli, RN, BSN is a critical care nurse specializing in cardiology and a dedicated community advocate. As the founder of The Climate Justice Nurse, she serves on the board of Michigan Clinicians for Climate Action and is an Environmental Nurse Fellow with the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE), where she leads the Clean Air Allies Project for youth in Detroit in partnership with the Detroit Area Disaster Recovery Group.