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LA was top of the American Lung Association’s annual “State of the Air” report released Wednesday. That’s not a good thing.
For the past 26 years, the American Lung Association has published an annual report that analyzes data from official air quality monitors and creates a list of the most polluted cities in the United States, with 25 of those 26 years LA first coming as the city. So it’s not a surprise. And the wildfires in January have kept the air quality even more in mind than usual. But to say the least, it’s still a bit of a confrontation and concern.
ALA measures air quality through two factors: ozone and specific fine substances (which can be divided into year-round particle contamination and short-term particle contamination). And we, um, didn’t score great scores in any category.
For ranking purposes, “LA” is actually a Los Angeles region that includes Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. With that in mind, LA was number one in ozone contamination, fifth in particle contamination compared to the previous year, and seventh in short-term particle contamination. (We were ranked 11th in short-term particle pollution at the beginning of the year, suggesting that the rankings rose due to the large amount of smoke from the January wildfires, but the 2025 report actually draws from air quality data from 2021 to 2023, so the “effects of wildfires have not yet been reflected.)
Furthermore, when breaking down the list by county, Southern California holds the top three spots for ozone criminals. San Bernardino, Riverside and Los Angeles are the three worst counties in that order.
Smog – ground level ozone on red ground – forms in a lower atmosphere when fossil fuels, including gasoline, diesel, oil, natural gas and coal burn, then “cooked” in sunlight to produce nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds that form ozone. And of course, LA’s automotive culture is the main perpetrator, and cars and gas stations are one of the worst criminals. Like our warm climate, our climate may make us want other cities, but high temperatures and pollutants are a bad combination.
According to the report, LA residents compete with unhealthy levels of ozone, an average of 153.7 days a year. And ozone poses many health risks, including lung irritation and inflammation. It also affects the respiratory system in both short and long term conditions, and can generally shorten life.
What is the smog city in the United States?
LA may have been making bad reports as the smogest US city, but let’s face it. We are far from the only place that deals with unhealthy air. In fact, almost half of the country’s population lives with unhealthy amounts of air pollution. That’s about 25 million people breathing unhealthy air than last year, according to the report.
In addition to LA, three other California cities make up the top five when it comes to ozone. Visalia was No. 2, Bakersfield-Delano No. 3, and Phoenix (also famous) returned to fourth place, with Fresno-Hanford-Corcoran Make No. 5.
Additionally, there are 27 counties that received failed grades on all three pollution measures, including Los Angeles. California has the biggest presence on that list, representing 14 of these 27 counties.
That’s not all bad news
Now, it’s not so great to be chosen as the country’s most smog and most smog city. But fortunately, we live in California. California has a long history of clean air policies at the local and state level, investing in environmental improvements. The ALA actually praised California, saying that the state “continues to reduce ozone and particle pollution in the state despite the state’s “facing one of the most challenging air pollution challenges in the United States.”
And the good news is that it’s beginning to make a difference. This year, 12 California metropolitan areas received the best reports in the history of the “Air Conditions” series, and Los Angeles was one of the best reports ever with at least one contaminant (particle cultivation annually).
Furthermore evidence: Compared to when the “air condition” report began, LA residents are actually exposed to unhealthy ozone levels on an average of 77 days a year.
So it’s not all fate and darkness. The ALA also uses voices to help protect the Environmental Protection Agency, providing several recommendations on action, including being responsible for both air pollution monitoring and cleaning, as well as reducing staff and funding. The association also recommends check daily air pollution forecasts on airnow.gov, visit lung.org/disaster and make sure you are prepared for wildfires and other disasters by doing your part to reduce emissions from your home and vehicle.
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