Riverside CT

Los Angeles Ranks First in Air Pollution
AOL and AP
LOS ANGELES (May 1) – Los Angeles can continue being the butt of smog jokes now that it has once again topped the American Lung Association’s bad air list of most polluted cities in America.
The association found that the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside metropolitan area had the worst air based on 2003 through 2005 figures, topping all three pollution categories in a report released Tuesday.
The group measured the worst cities for short-term particle pollution, year-round particle pollution and ozone pollution. Particle pollution is more dangerous than ozone pollution, the report said.
In the year-round particle pollution category, the Pittsburgh area was ranked as the nation’s second most polluted metropolitan area, followed by Bakersfield, Calif., Birmingham, Ala., Detroit and Cleveland. Visalia, Calif., Cincinnati, Indianapolis and St. Louis rounded out the top 10.
The news wasn’t all bad for Los Angeles. Despite the dubious distinction, the number of days residents breathed the nation’s worst ozone levels was fewer than in previous years.
“Nobody is surprised that L.A. has an air pollution problem,” said Janice Nolen, the association’s assistant vice president for national policy and advocacy. “The problems there are one of the reasons we have the Clean Air Act. But it is important for folks to know that there has been some improvement.”
Ozone pollution, or smog, is produced when heat and sunlight come into contact with pollutants from power plants, cars, refineries and other sources. Particle pollution can contain ash, soot, diesel exhaust, chemicals, metals, and aerosols directly from those sources.