Ideas, Inventions And Innovations: Air Pollution: The Dirtiest and Cleanest Cities Ranked by American Lung Association

We all have to breathe. But according to the American Lung Association’s 12th annual State of the Air report, where you live has a big impact on whether or not the air you breathe is healthy or hazardous.

The American Lung Association has released our 12th annual report on air quality, State of the Air 2011. State of the Air 2011 takes a close look at air quality across the country, and finds both good and not-so-good news. The report assigns grades for two important types of air pollution - ozone (smog) and particle pollution (soot) - and lists America’s most polluted cities. Is your city on the list? Find out here.

New features in this year’s report allows you to see how your city ranks and how the air has improved—or not—over the years. You can even compare the air in your city to another city.

Schematic drawing, causes and effects of air pollution: (1) greenhouse effect, (2) particulate contamination, (3) increased UV radiation, (4) acid rain, (5) increased ground level ozone concentration, (6) increased levels of nitrogen oxides.

Image: Wikipedia

Steady Progress
This year’s report found that the majority of American cities that are most-polluted by ozone or year-round particle pollution have improved their air quality, showing continued progress in the cleanup of deadly toxics. Credit for this goes to the Clean Air Act.

“State of the Air tells us that the progress the nation has made cleaning up coal-fired power plants, diesel emissions and other pollution sources has drastically cut dangerous pollution from the air we breathe,” said Charles D. Connor, American Lung Association President and CEO. “We owe our cleaner air to the Clean Air Act. We have proof that cleaning up pollution results in healthier air to breathe. That’s why we cannot stop now.”

Threats to Continued Progress
Despite the Clean Air Act’s 40 years of success in improving our air, some members of Congress are now proposing changes to the law that would weaken this safeguard. You can join our fight to protect the Clean Air Act, so the law can continue defending our health. Learn more.

Efforts to weaken this vital public health law pose real threats to half the nation - the 154.5 million people who still live in areas with levels of ozone and/or particle pollution that are often dangerous to breathe. State of the Air 2011 finds that eighteen million people live where air pollution failed every test.

Most Polluted Cities
The cities are ranked by the air quality in the most polluted county in the metropolitan area. Click on the city name to open links to a chart of the trends for ozone and year-round particle levels, as well as more information about air pollution and the local Lung Association. Note that some cities rank high on one list and don’t show up on other lists because of the differences in their pollution problems. Each city includes all the counties that form the economic and transportation network that makes up the metropolitan area as defined by the federal government

BY OZONE

#1: Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA
#2: Bakersfield-Delano, CA
#3: Visalia-Porterville, CA
#4: Fresno-Madera, CA
#5: Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Yuba City, CA-NV
#6: Hanford-Corcoran, CA
#7: San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA
#8: Houston-Baytown-Huntsville, TX
#9: Merced, CA
#10: Charlotte-Gastonia-Salisbury, NC-SC
#11: San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA
#12: Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
#13: El Centro, CA
#14: Modesto, CA
#14: Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV
#16: Cincinnati-Middletown-Wilmington, OH-KY-IN
#17: New York-Newark-Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA
#18: Knoxville-Sevierville-La Follette, TN
#19: Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, AZ
#20: Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland, PA-NJ-DE-MD
#21: Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman, AL
#22: Chico, CA
#23: Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Gainesville, GA-AL
#24: Pittsburgh-New Castle, PA
#25: Las Vegas-Paradise-Pahrump, NV

BY YEAR ROUND PARTICLE POLLUTION

#1: Bakersfield-Delano, CA
#2: Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, AZ
#2: Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA
#2: Visalia-Porterville, CA
#5: Hanford-Corcoran, CA
#6: Fresno-Madera, CA
#7: Pittsburgh-New Castle, PA
#8: Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman, AL
#9: Cincinnati-Middletown-Wilmington, OH-KY-IN
#10: Louisville-Jefferson County-Elizabethtown-Scottsburg, KY-IN
#10: Modesto, CA
#12: Steubenville-Weirton, OH-WV
#12: Cleveland-Akron-Elyria, OH
#12: Charleston, WV
#15: Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH
#15: Indianapolis-Anderson-Columbus, IN
#17: Houston-Baytown-Huntsville, TX
#17: Detroit-Warren-Flint, MI
#17: St. Louis-St. Charles-Farmington, MO-IL
#20: Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV
#21: New York-Newark-Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA
#22: Dayton-Springfield-Greenville, OH
#22: Lancaster, PA
#24: Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland, PA-NJ-DE-MD
#24: York-Hanover-Gettysburg, PA
#24: Parkersburg-Marietta, WV-OH
#24: Knoxville-Sevierville-La Follette, TN

BY SHORT-TERM PARTICLE POLLUTION

#1: Bakersfield-Delano, CA

#2: Fresno-Madera, CA
#3: Pittsburgh-New Castle, PA
#4: Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA
#5: Salt Lake City-Ogden-Clearfield, UT
#6: Provo-Orem, UT
#7: Visalia-Porterville, CA
#8: Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman, AL
#9: Hanford-Corcoran, CA
#9: Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Yuba City, CA-NV
#9: Logan, UT-ID
#12: Modesto, CA
#13: Merced, CA
#14: Eugene-Springfield, OR
#15: San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA
#16: Stockton, CA
#17: Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City, IL-IN-WI
#18: Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia, WA
#19: Fairbanks, AK
#20: Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland, PA-NJ-DE-MD
#21: Macon-Warner Robins-Fort Valley, GA
#22: Louisville-Jefferson County-Elizabethtown-Scottsburg, KY-IN
#23: Green Bay, WI
#24: Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL
#24: Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, AZ
#24: Madison-Baraboo, WI
#24: Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA
#24: Wheeling, WV-OH
#24: San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA

Cleanest Cities

The cities on the cleanest cities lists for ozone and for short-term levels of particle pollution had no days with unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution. These lists are not ranked because all the cities earned the same scores. The cities on the list of the cleanest for year-round particle pollution levels are ranked by their average levels of particles, as calculated by the EPA. Note that some cities are clean for one category, but not for others.