Photo Courtesy of Steven.Buss
Being born in one of the most polluted areas in the world – Southern California – led my mother to move to Jackson Hole, Wyoming to help alleviate my asthmatic symptoms. Interestingly enough, the maneuver worked, and I have been since interested in the health effects of “dirty” cities ever since. Let’s take a look at the top 10 most polluted cities as reported by Forbes in November.
What is a “dirty” City?
The following list highlights three different pollution ranks: short-term particle pollution, year-round particle pollution, and ozone pollution rank.
Particle pollution, according to the American Lung Association, is a combination of “tiny specks of soot, dust, and aerosols that are suspended in the air we breathe.” Particle pollution can have some serious implications on your health. In fact, studies by both the EPA and World Health Organization have shown that both indoor and outdoor particulate matter, especially fine particulate matter (as opposed to ultra fine or coarse), have direct effect on longevity and morality rates in cities.
Short-term particle pollution speaks to pollution that lasts over hours or days, while long-term particle pollution speaks to pollution that lasts for longer periods like a year. Short-term particle pollution ranks are based on “spikes in their daily measurements and were calculated using weighted averages; each level of the Air Quality index was given a numerical weight, and these values were then multiplied by the number of days each metro reached them.”
The same method was used for the ozone pollution rank.
Regarding long-term or year-round pollution, “rankings are based on the average daily airborne particle levels during the three years studied.”
The List
No. 10: Pittsburgh-New Castle, Pennsylvania
Population: 2.4 million
Short-term particle pollution rank: 3
Year-round particle pollution rank: 5
Ozone pollution rank: n/a
One-hundred seventy-five million Americans live in counties with unhealthy air.
No. 9: Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Yuba City, Calif./Nev.
Population: 2.4 million
Short-term particle pollution rank: 6
Year-round particle pollution rank: n/a
Ozone pollution rank: 5
Sacramento incentivizes residents to trade in gasoline lawn mowers for electric ones, diesel-powered trucks for hybrid ones and old wood stoves for new ones.
No. 8: Modesto, Calif.
Population: 511,000
Short-term particle pollution rank: 9
Year-round particle pollution rank: 14
Ozone pollution rank: 22
Home to the largest winery in the world, operated by E&J Gallo, which also runs world’s largest wine bottle factory here.
No. 7: Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman, Ala.
Population: 1.2 million
Short-term particle pollution rank: 5
Year-round particle pollution rank: 7
Ozone pollution rank: 19
Three old coal-fired power plants contribute to high levels of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, soot and mercury around Birmingham.
No. 6: Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz.
Population: 4.3 million
Short-term particle pollution rank: 14
Year-round particle pollution rank: 1
Ozone pollution rank: 11
Asthmatics used to flock to Phoenix for clean air. Yet today the Valley of the Sun’s inversion layer traps pollutants, creating the city’s “Brown Cloud.”
No. 5: Hanford-Corcoran, Calif.
Population: 150,000
Short-term particle pollution rank: 10
Year-round particle pollution rank: 8
Ozone pollution rank: 6
Hundreds of aircraft based at the giant Naval Air Station in nearby Lemoore doesn’t help Hanford’s air quality.
No. 4: Visalia-Porterville, Calif.
Population: 430,000
Short-term particle pollution rank: 8
Year-round particle pollution rank: 3
Ozone pollution rank: 3
Proximity to the giant trees of Sequoia National Park isn’t enough to clean Visalia’s smoggy San Joaquin Valley air.
No. 3: Fresno-Madera, Calif.
Population: 1.1 million
Short-term particle pollution rank: 2
Year-round particle pollution rank: 6
Ozone pollution rank: 4
Cars, agriculture, petroleum and mega-dairies all contribute to the brown haze that hangs over the San Joaquin Valley.
No. 2: Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, Calif.
Population: 17.8 million
Short-term particle pollution rank: 4
Year-round particle pollution rank: 3
Ozone pollution rank: 1
University of Calgary researchers found in 2008 that salty coastal air mixed with sunshine and pollutants helps create unexpectedly high levels of ground-level ozone.
No. 1: Bakersfield, Calif.
Population: 800,000
Short-term particle pollution rank: 1
Year-round particle pollution rank: 2
Ozone pollution rank: 2
Hot, dusty and surrounded by California’s San Joaquin Valley oil fields, Bakersfield has all the ingredients for the worst air in the nation.
April 11, 2011 at 2:23 pm
Sigh. I grew up in Bakersfield and still have many family members who live there. The reasons for the air quality problems in the San Joaquin valley are many, but the major culprit is industrial agriculture. As the “salad bowl” of the nation, the San Joaquin Valley grows and ships out the majority of produce purchased in the U.S. It is frustrating to watch everyone happily buy up the inexpensive, chemically-laden produce of the area and then turn their noses up at the residents of the areas in which they were grown, wondering how anyone could ever live there. If we demanded organic practices and a diverse approach to farming that was not so reliant on petroleum-based fuels and fertilizers, the air in the SJV would improve dramatically!
December 5, 2011 at 4:45 am
No one cares! It is still #1!
April 11, 2011 at 3:23 pm
Born in #5,, moved to #8 and have all sorts of health issues. I can’t wait to retire!
April 11, 2011 at 3:49 pm
Bakersfield, Bakersfield… My grandparents lived there from 1952 to 1987. We visited once a month in the 70s. Went there last summer. In addition to dust, the smell of raw petroleum impregnates the air now.
I do not recall petroleum smell back int the 70s. I do not recall dust inside or out of my grandparents house.
Living in LA in the 70s with smog so bad you could not even take a deep breath, I looked forward to the clean air of Bakersfield. Just cannot believe it !!!!!
April 14, 2011 at 4:50 pm
Jesse’s asthma was so bad his lungs would fill up with fluid and he would gag and cough in order to expel it, as his mother it was truly horrifying. He wheezed and had trouble sleeping and if he got a cold I barely felt comfortable leaving his side. Jesse was 5 when we moved to Jackson Hole and at that point become one of those “inside kids” video games, movies, cartoons and playing in his room while other children ran around kicking the ball. The already quiet child was becoming more and more introverted due to his struggles with breathing and health. Moving to Jackson changed everything,within months after moving there Jesse was down hill skiing and running around playing with all his new friends. His health changed instantly. As he got older and joined the Boy Scouts he slept in ice caves, went on multi day boating excursions and was/is an avid hiker. FYI for those of you not in the know – there air is much thinner up there in those mountains. He never had a problem with breathing again even when he had a 50 lb backback strapped to his thin frame.
If it were not for this article or holiday dinners when memories of things past are discussed, I would forget altogether he even had a breathing problem.
There are only two options left with the dirt in Los Angeles.
Clean it up or as they said in the film Battlefield LA when the aliens were winning –
“Abandon Los Angeles”
December 5, 2011 at 5:27 am
So in spite of all the regulations and restrictions on what the populace and businesses can and cannot drive, use, work with, etc. California still has 7 of the top 10 dirtiest places. Hmm. Maybe California regulations are the problem. Food for thought!