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Los Angeles Long Beach was ranked as the country’s most smog region in a report released Wednesday by the American Lung Association.
Overall, the association’s annual aviation report found that almost half of the US people breathe unhealthy levels of air pollution, with 156 million people living in areas that received “F” grades with either smog or particle pollution.
Los Angeles Long Beach has been found to have the worst ozone, or smog and pollution in the country. The five California regions are listed in the top 10 most polluted regions, with Visalia in second place, Bakersfield-Delano third, Fresno-Hanford-Corcoran 5th and San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad in eighth place.
“Ground-level ozone contamination, also known as smog, is a powerful respiratory irritant, and its effectiveness is likened to lung tanning,” according to the Lung Association. “Inhaling ozone can cause shortness of breath, causing cough and asthma attacks, and shorten life. Climate-driven temperatures create ozone and make it difficult to clean up.”
The long beach area in Los Angeles ranked as the seventh most contaminated region in the country due to short-term particle contamination and ranked fifth most in particle contamination throughout the year. Short-term numbers represent daily spikes of particle contamination or soot, but annual figures are average annually.
At the county-wide level, San Bernardino County was ranked as the most ozone-contaminated site in the country, followed by Riverside, Los Angeles, Tulea and Kern counties. Kern County also tops the list as the most contaminated county in both short-term and annual particle contamination.
Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties all achieved unsuccessful grades in reporting in all three pollution categories.
“Every day, American families deal with the health effects of air pollution, and extreme heat and wildfires make it worse,” Lung Association president/CEO Harold Wimmer said in a statement. “Air pollution has led to children having asthma attacks, making people working outdoors sick, and babies have a lower birth weight. This year’s report shows the dramatic impact of air pollution on more and more people.”
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