Los Angeles once again had the worst ozone pollution in the US, as it has for 26 of the 27 years that the American Lung Associations has produced its “State of the Air Report,” which was released on Earth Day. “Ozone pollution in Los Angeles worsened from last year’s report,” the report announced. It had far more smoggy days than the three other California metro areas that dominated the top 5: Visalia (#2), Bakersfield/Delano (#3), and Fresno-Hanford-Corcoran (#5).
LA ranked 7th in PM (particulate matter) pollution on both daily and annual measures, but there’s far less of a gap between cities on those measures. For annual PM, four other California metro areas were worse: Bakersfield/Delano (#1), Fresno-Hanford-Corcoran (#4), San Diego/Chula Vista/Carlsbad, and Visalia. (#5, tied). For daily PM, three California metro areas scored worse: Bakersfield/Delano (#3), Visalia (#5) and Fresno-Hanford-Corcoran (#6).