Riverside County's Air Quality Among Worst in Nation, Report Finds

By City News Service:

RIVERSIDE, CA- Riverside County joined other counties in California graded "F" for air quality on the American Lung Association's 2016 "State of the Air" report card released Wednesday.

According to the 17th annual State of the Air report, Riverside County scored failing grades in smog -- or ozone -- levels and in the average daily presence of particle pollution, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency defines as dirt, dust, soot and other "inhalable coarse particles" larger than 2.5 micrometers.

The report noted that Riverside County was among 11 counties assigned a failing grade for having excessively high ozone and long-term particle pollution levels. In Southern California, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Imperial counties also made that list.

Despite the dismal grades, the ALA study indicated the number of days particle pollution levels in Riverside County stayed above "orange" -- or in the unhealthy range -- dropped by 95 since 2000. Similarly, the number of "high ozone days" in the county dropped by 63 from 1996, according to the report.

"Thanks to California's cleaner vehicles and fuels and other innovative clean air policies, we're seeing steady progress in our fight for cleaner air," said Olivia Diaz-Lapham, president and CEO of the American Lung Association-California.

"However, more than 80 percent of ... residents still live in counties with unhealthy air during certain parts of the year," she said. "We simply must do more to protect the health of Californians."

The data is intended to underscore the risks to vulnerable populations within a region. According to the report, the county's substandard air quality poses a threat to roughly 395,000 residents diagnosed with pediatric and adult asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder and cardiovascular disease.

Findings showed more than 32 million people across the state were considered at risk.

Seven of the top 10 year-round "most polluted" metropolitan regions, measured by particulate matter exposure, in the nation were in California:

• Bakersfield
• Visalia-Porterville-Hanford
• Fresno-Madera
• Los Angeles-Long Beach
• El Centro
• Modesto-Merced
• San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland
• Pittsburgh-New Castle-Weirton, Penn., OH and WV
• Harrisburg-York-Lebanon, PA
• Louisville/Jefferson County-Elizabethtown-Madison, KY and IN

The full report is available here: http://www.lung.org/local- content/california/our-initiatives/state-of-the-air/2016/state-of-the-air- 2016.html .

(Image via Shutterstock)