Air Report Released

Kirt Ramirez

The Los Angeles metro area again ranked number one for having the worst ozone pollution in the U.S. while at the same time displaying the best air quality in years, the American Lung Association State of the Air report has found.

The annual report, released April 19, again found the “Los Angeles-Long Beach” air was the cleanest in the report’s 18-year history but that it remains the worst in the nation for ozone pollution, otherwise known as smog.

“California’s most populous metro area, Los Angeles, continues to improve, posting its lowest number of unhealthy days for ozone pollution and lowest levels of year-round particle pollution,” an American Lung Association press release states. “Unfortunately, the region still leads the nation in unhealthy days for ozone pollution, followed by Bakersfield and the Fresno-Madera area.”

The 2017 report used air monitoring data collected from 2013 to 2015 to measure ozone and particle pollution.

For short-term particle pollution, otherwise known as soot, Los Angeles-Long Beach ranked ninth in the country, the same as in the 2016 report, which used data from 2012 to 2014. Bakersfield placed first this year and last year. Fresno-Madera tied with Visalia-Porterville-Hanford for second.

For year-round particle pollution, Los Angeles-Long Beach ranked fifth, an improvement from last year’s fourth placement. Visalia-Porterville-Hanford placed first, followed by Bakersfield, then Fresno-Madera and then San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland-Stockton.

“The purpose of the annual State of the Air (SOTA) report is to inform the public about the air quality they breathe and the impact it has on health and communities,” American Lung Association Advocacy Director John Yi said through email. “By highlighting regions of improved air quality, SOTA helps to encourage policy makers in advocating for cleaner air for all.”

Los Angeles and Long Beach are often hyphenated together in the report. Asked if the Lung Association has information regarding Long Beach specifically, Yi responded:

“The report is based off of data that is provided by the EPA, which gathers state and local data. And so these grades are more of a general snapshot of the region’s air quality than a measurement of specific hotspots. And so unfortunately, it’s difficult to give details about a specific city.”

More than 90 percent of Californians live in areas where the air is unhealthy at some point during the year, the report found.

“Our state’s air quality continues to hit unhealthy levels each year, putting Californians at risk for premature death and other serious health effects such as asthma, COPD and lung cancer,” Olivia Diaz-Lapham, president and CEO of the American Lung Association in California, said in a statement. “We are seeing continued improvements in parts of the state, but there are too many areas where residents are breathing dirty air and we must work to reduce the sources of air pollution.”

In overall nationwide trends, the report found “continued improvement in air quality in 2013-2015 in ozone and year-round particle pollution, but an unrelenting increase in dangerous spikes in particle pollution.”

The report advocates “the continued need to support and enforce the Clean Air Act to protect the nation from unhealthy air.”

“In California and nationwide, the number of unhealthy days for ozone has decreased, thanks to the success of the federal Clean Air Act as well as state and local air pollution control programs that clean up major sources of emissions,” the report states.

“Air quality laws save lives and must be defended in Congress. Policies to combat climate change also need to be protected. Climate change is worsening our air pollution problems. Research has shown that climate change causes warmer temperatures that increase ozone formation and make it harder to reach our clean air goals.

“Climate change is also linked to extreme weather patterns, drought and wildfires, which contributed to the extraordinarily high numbers of days with unhealthy particle pollution in some cities.”

The American Lung Association hopes that laws protecting the air will stay in place under the Trump administration.

“While California continues to move forward with policies like strong standards to reduce vehicle emissions, the federal government wants to move backwards,” Diaz-Lapham said in a statement. “We call on President Trump, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and members of Congress to fully fund, implement and enforce the Clean Air Act for all air pollutants – including those that drive climate change and make it harder to ensure healthy air for all Americans.”

Smog is bad for many across the board.

“Ozone pollution is especially harmful to children, seniors and those with asthma and other lung diseases. When they breathe ozone-polluted air, too often they end up in the doctor’s office, the hospital or the emergency room,” Dr. Alex Sherriffs, a Fresno-area physician and member of the San Joaquin Valley Air District Board and the California Air Resources Board, said in a statement.

Particle pollution also is unhealthy.

“These tiny particles, known as soot, can lodge deep in the lungs and trigger asthma attacks, heart attacks and strokes,” Dr. Sherriffs said. “They can also cause lung cancer and early death.”

Salinas, Calif., was recognized as one of the cleanest cities with zero unhealthy ozone days and one of the lowest year-round particle pollution levels.

Many cities throughout the country are listed with having clean air.

The 2017 State of the Air report can be accessed through www.lung.org.

kirt@beachcomber.news

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