Ozone Down, Soot Up

When it comes to allergies, if you are unlucky enough to live in the East, you’re breathing in more soot – the most dangerous pollutant of all – than ever before, but not so much if you’re living in the West.

The American Lung Association says for the first time since it began air quality report cards, ozone – or “smog” – is decreasing across the country from peaks in 2002, but soot still permeates the air in many cities.

Soot particles can get trapped deep in your lungs and cause a heart attack, stroke, cancer and asthma attacks. You're especially vulnerable to air pollution if you're a senior citizen, work or exercise outdoors, or suffer from asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Los Angeles still ranks as the country’s most polluted city, although the metro area’s pollution levels have dropped. If you want clean air, then Cheyenne, Wyo., Santa Fe, N.M., Honolulu, Great Falls, Mont., and Farmington, N.M. are the top five places for you, according to the association.

And if you want a large metro area with the cleanest air, then try Miami, association leaders said.

Scoring A's

According to the lung association, the number of counties scoring an “A” for ozone levels increased from 82 in 2000 to 145 in 200 , but the number of “Fs” nearly doubled. Nearly 100 million people live in areas that were given an F by the organization.

"The increased particle pollution in the East is a particularly troubling trend, because exposure to particle pollution can not only take years off your life, it can threaten your life immediately," says Terri Weaver, a registered nurse and the association’s chairwoman. “Even in many areas the Environmental Protection Agency currently considers safe, the science clearly shows that the air is too often dangerous to breathe, particularly for those with lung disease.

“Protecting Americans from potentially deadly air pollution means we need more protective federal standards, so that every community in the United States can have truly clean air.”

Power plants, diesel vehicles

According to the lung association, more than 45 percent of Americans – 136 million people – live in 251 counties that have unhealthy levels of pollution from ozone or soot. About 38 million, or one in eight Americans, live in 32 counties with unhealthy levels of ozone and short-term and year-round soot.

The association links higher soot levels in the East to more electricity generated by heavy polluting power plants. Other major soot sources include emissions from diesel vehicles, including school buses, barges, trucks, tugboats and construction equipment.

By contrast, in the West, soot levels continue to drop even in areas that rank historically high in particle pollution. California showed the most improvement with 32 counties dropping their year-round pollution levels.

As for ozone, pollution dropped in general across the country thanks to cooler summers in 2003 and 2004, and a requirement in the 1990s to clean up emissions of the raw ingredients of smog. Reductions in the nitrogen oxide emissions from coal-fired power plants are keeping smog levels down, even when the heat returned in summer 2005 in much of the East.

Other polluted cities - from Baton Rouge to Washington

In the West, particularly in California, aggressive measures to reduce emissions from cars, trucks and other vehicles are contributing to fewer high ozone days.

"The good news is that there’s less ozone everywhere,” Weaver says. “Yet, we remain concerned because the science shows that millions are still at risk from ozone that exceeds acceptable levels.”

In addition to Los Angeles, other large cities among the worst for ozone include Houston, Dallas, New York, Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia. And despite improved ozone levels, Atlanta, Phoenix, and Baton Rouge, La., are still on the worst list, which includes first-timers Las Vegas, Milwaukee and Kansas City.

Other cities on the lists of the worst soot include Pittsburgh, Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York.