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Are You Breathing Dirty Air? 5-1-08

Report Card Ranks Air Quality Across America

While air pollution levels across America declined up until three years ago, they now have hit a stubborn and still unhealthy plateau, according to the latest American Lung Association "State of the Air" report. One in 10 people still live in areas with unhealthy air, according to the report.

The report showed improvement among several of the worst-polluted cities, including Los Angeles (though it remains the smoggiest city in America), but it showed declines in many others, including Pittsburgh, Pa., which has the worst short-term particle pollution.

The report ranked cities on three types of air pollution: short-term particles, year-round particles and ozone. Ozone is formed when smokestack and tailpipe exhaust reacts with heat and sun, and it can scar lung tissue, triggering asthma attacks and other respiratory illness. Small particles include various kinds of dust and chemical droplets that can lodge deep in the lungs and even enter the bloodstream; exposure to various particulates, which the Lung Association calls "a deadly cocktail of ash, soot, diesel exhaust, chemicals, metals and aerosols," has been associated with lung and heart illness, cancer and other health problems. Both air pollutants increase the rate of premature death.

Other cities that saw air quality declines include San Diego, Atlanta, Charlotte, the Baltimore-Washington, D.C., metro area and Birmingham, Ala.

Top Ten U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Short-Term Particle Pollution

1. Pittsburgh, Pa.
2. Los Angeles/Long Beach/Riverside, Calif.
3. Fresno/Madera, Calif.
4. Bakersfield, Calif.
5. Birmingham, Ala.
6. Logan, Utah
7. Salt Lake City, Utah
8. Sacramento, Calif.
9. Detroit, Mich.
10. Baltimore, Md./Washington, D.C./Northern Virginia.

Top Ten U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Year-Round Particle Pollution

1. Los Angeles/Long Beach/Riverside, Calif.
2. Pittsburgh, Pa.
3. Bakersfield, Calif.
4. Birmingham, Ala.
5. Visalia/Porterville, Calif.
6. Atlanta, Ga.
7. Cincinnati, Ohio
8. Fresno/Madera, Calif.
9. Hanford/Corcoran, Calif.
10. Detroit, Mich.

Top Ten U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Ozone

1. Los Angeles/Long Beach/Riverside, Calif.
2. Bakersfield, Calif.
3. Visalia/Porterville, Calif.
4. Houston, Texas
5. Fresno/Madera, Calif.
6. Sacramento, Calif.
7. Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas
8. New York, N.Y./Newark, N.J.
9. Baltimore, Md./Washington, D.C./Northern Virginia
10. Baton Rouge, La.

See State of the Air to see how your state, county or city scores.