Pollution in any place can be measured qualitatively by measuring essential factors such as ozone, short-term and year-round particulate pollution, and tap water contaminants. These are collectively taken into consideration to determine what is called a pollution index, which, as the name suggests, depicts the degree of pollution in that place. The American Lung Association (ALA) has compiled a list of the most polluted cities in the US; let’s look at them below.

Worst cities to live in with breathing issues

1. Fresno-Madera, CA

Fresno has a population of over half a million people located in the heart of the Central Valley in California and considerably south of the San Francisco Bay Area. The city, acting as the prime hub for the region’s agricultural industry as well as having the convergence of numerous state highways at its heart, succeeded in bagging an Air Quality Index of 150 AQI on an average in the past year. The recent wildfires in Northern California caused the index to peak at 219 in August of 2020, thereby pushing it into the Unhealthy Category as far as the effects of particulate pollution are concerned. Ozone is yet another factor for pollution that causes chemical reactions in lung tissue. It results in symptoms like coughing and difficulty breathing when inhaled, leading to respiratory conditions like Asthma and COPD, infections and premature death caused by lung damage.

2. Bakersfield, CA
Bakersfield is one of the major hubs for energy production and agriculture in California. Numerous agricultural activities act as major sources of particulates and gases like NO2, resulting in the release of ozone. Since there exists an arid, desert-like climate throughout the year, ozone levels are all the more elevated during the scorching days in summer. Despite the air quality having improved over the past 20 years, Bakersfield still stands at the top of the list due to constant pollutant sources like industries, wildfires, growingly excessive population, and unmonitored climate change circling around the city’s attempt to provide better air and health conditions to its residents.

3. Fairbanks, AK
Fairbanks is the second-largest city in Alaska and was ranked as the number one most polluted city with respect to year-round particle pollution in 2018. Oddly enough, it is one of the cleanest cities when it comes to ozone pollution, and the entirety of the pollution accumulated in the area is solely caused by high particle levels arising due to the burning of fuel and wood to heat homes and places throughout the long winter. The low winter temperatures increase CO emissions from vehicles during cold starts, and the long-lasting temperature inversions trap the pollutants close to the ground during the winter, further reducing their dispersion. Since the majority of pollution is being caused by domestic factors such as basic commutation via vehicles and keeping homes warm, an ideal solution to the looming problem of particle dispersion has not yet been provided and dealt with.

Nearly 43% of Americans live in regions that have unhealthy levels of ozone and particle pollution. The creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970 has indeed pushed the American people into creating and spreading awareness against the problem and its impacts on personal and community health, but judging from the aforementioned numbers, the country as a whole has a long way left before it reaches the safety goals that have been set.