Los Angeles Is Most Polluted City in America

A great deal of media coverage on air pollution covers the largest cities in China and India. Air pollution is not as bad in any U.S. cities as it is in any of those. However, in some American cities, the air is fair from pristine.

According to a recent article at 24/7 Wall St. titled “20 Most Polluted Cities in America,” editors reviewed levels of ozone pollution and chose Los Angeles as the worst.

The 24/7 Wall St. analysis showed:

Los Angeles-Long Beach, Calif.
> High ozone days per year: 152.5 days
> Number of days with unhealthy particle pollution: 11.2 days
> People with asthma: 1,484,573
> Population: 18,550,288

The Los Angeles area has the worst ozone pollution of any U.S. city, as it did in nearly all of the 16 years the American Lung Association has measured it. The level of smog in LA reaches unhealthy levels during 152.5 days on average each year. During 2012 through 2014, there were 11.2 days of unhealthy particle pollution spikes. While this was the ninth highest level of short-term PM pollution, it was also the fewest number of such days ever recorded in LA.

[nativounit]
Methodology: To identify the 20 most polluted cities, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the metropolitan statistical areas with the highest levels of ozone pollution, measured in days in a year when the concentration of ozone, or smog, exceeded the EPA standard from the ALA’s 2016 “State of the Air 2016” report. Short-term particle pollution, which is measured in days with excessive particle pollution levels and long-term particle pollution, expressed as the annual average concentration of particulate matter, as well as the number of area residents with asthma, including the number of adults and the number of pediatric cases of the disease, also came from the ALA. The incidence of cardiovascular disease and the number of residents who have been diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) at some point in their lives also came from the ALA. All estimates of pollution levels are based on three-year annual averages from 2012 through 2014.