BY MARIA
BARAN
News-Democrat
St. Clair County improved its score from an "F" to a "D" on the American Lung Association's annual test for clean air, while Madison County's score remained an "F."
The association issued its 2008 State of the Air report Thursday, ranking cities most affected by three types of pollution: short-term particle pollution, year-round particle pollution and ozone pollution.
The report examines ozone air quality data from 2004 through 2006, which are the most recent figures from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The report grades and ranks counties on how often their air quality reaches "unhealthful" categories of the EPA's Air Quality Index for Ozone air pollution.
St. Louis is considered one of the nation's most polluted metropolitan areas. Although those scores do not include St. Clair and Madison, the metro-east suffers from being in such close proximity to the major city, according to the annual report card.
The eight metropolitan areas that are among the nation's most polluted by every measure are Los Angeles, Bakersfield Fresno, Visalia-Porterfield and Hanford-Corcoran, all in California; Washington-Baltimore; St. Louis; and Birmingham, Ala.
For high ozone days, Madison County scored an "F," the same score it received in 2007. St. Clair County scored a "D," improving slightly from its "F" last year. Both counties failed the particle pollution test for the second year in a row.
St. Louis city and county and St. Charles County each received an "F" for high ozone days, remaining the same from 2007; however, all three areas passed the particle pollution test this year and last.
"In relation to airflow from the St. Louis metro area, you tend to get credit for some of their pollution," explained Michael Mark, executive director for the American Lung Association in Illinois
The St. Louis area was voted No. 15 for having the most polluted ozone in the country, No. 13 for most polluted cities by year-round particle pollution, but did not make the top 25 for short-term particle pollution, according to the study.
Pittsburgh ranked No. 1 on the list of cities most polluted by short-term levels of particle pollution, making it the first time a city outside of California topped one of the most polluted lists since the American Lung Association began reporting nine years ago. Short-term levels of particle pollution include a deadly cocktail of ash, soot, diesel exhaust, chemicals, metals and aerosols that can spike dangerously for hours to weeks on end.
"The No. 1 pollutant is traffic, especially in the metro areas," Mark explained.
And not all of the metro-east pollution problems can be blamed on our neighbors to the west. "If you have power plants or other businesses that put pollutants into the airs -- certainly not as much as cars -- but they certainly are a contributor," he said.
Five years ago, St. Clair County had scored a "C" in the annual test for clean air, while Madison County had received failing scores.