As reported in an article by Noaki Schwartz from the Associated Press on Yahoo, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania now has the dubious distinction of being the sootiest city in the United States, taking the unwanted title from Los Angeles, California although Los Angeles still has the worst all around pollution.

The amount of soot in the air is one of the categories the American Lung Association uses to measure air quality around the country as they compile their annual “State of the Air Report.”

The eight metropolitan areas with the most polluted air according to the 2008 report are:
Los Angeles, California
Bakersfield, California
Fresno, California
Visalia-Porterfield, California
Hanford-Corcoran, California
Washington D.C.-Baltimore, Maryland
St. Louis, Missouri
Birmingham, Alabama.

The cities with the cleaniest air in the United States are:
Fargo, North Dakota
Salinas, California

The American Lung Association’s air quality rankings are based on ozone pollution levels produced when heat and sunlight come into contact with pollutants from power plants, cars, refineries etc. Particle pollution levels emitted from those sources were also studied and measured.

If you’re breathing a sigh of relief that your metropolitan area didn’t make the “worst” list, it’s not necessarily time for you to breath easy yet. The study found that forty two percent of the residents in the United States live in counties with high levels of particle or ozone pollution.

According to Tony Gerber, a pulmonary specialist, “When you think of the impact of ozone on our respiratory tracts, imagine putting acid right in your eye. It’s that corrosive. This corrosiveness causes severe irritation and leads to problems like asthma attacks, coughing, wheezing, chest pain and even death.”

To access all the air quality information from the report, click here to go to the American Lung Association’s “State of the Air” website. Click on a state to see the air quality information by county and to see each county’s grade (A,B,C,D, or F).