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Wildfires have made LA County air quality among worst in nation

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Los Angeles County and surrounding areas once again have the nation’s worst air quality. That’s the recent finding by the American Lung Association (ALA), which released a report stating that the five-county Los Angeles region ranks as the nation’s smoggiest metro area for the 19th time in 20 years.

Air quality has certainly improved since the “pre-catalytic converter” days when the nation’s vehicles operated on leaded gas. In fact, air quality has improved across the nation for the past 50 years. However, the ALA report demonstrates that—between 2016-2018—air quality in the Southern California region has deteriorated. Climate change and wildfires are cited as key causes for the downturn.

The report looked at the region county-by-county, and found that San Bernardo, Riverside and Los Angeles rank first, second and third respectively for having the worst smog in the nation or, as the State Air Report terms it, “ozone pollution.” Orange County received a failing grade as well, tied for 25th worst among the nation’s 3,007 counties.

Increase in ‘high ozone’ days

California is home to 20 of the 26 smoggiest counties, despite the Golden State having the nation’s strictest vehicle emissions regulations. The number of unhealthy “high-ozone” days finds San Bernardino County with 161.2 unhealthy-air days, Riverside County at 130 days, and Los Angeles County at 119.2 days when it is certifiably unhealthy to engage in prolonged and/or strenuous outside activities.

The ongoing fight against climate change has only been exacerbated by the wildfires that are plaguing the state from the Wine County (Kincade Fire), down to our local mountains and canyons (Getty Fire), as well as the Calabasas Fire, the Tick Fire in Santa Clarita, and the Easy Fire that burned more than 1,700 acres and threatened the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley.

California was particularly hard hit by blazes in 2018 and continuing through this year as “fire season” has become a year-round concern. The warmer temperatures resulting from the drought have increased the likelihood of wildfires and resulting bad air quality. Near gale-force winds passing through Acton this week have contributed to these and more wildfires.

“The three years covered in this report ranked as the hottest years on record globally,” according to the ALA report, which analyzed government data. “High ozone days and spikes in particle pollution zoomed, putting millions more people at risk and challenges to the work cities are doing across the nation [to clean up the atmosphere].”

A busy week for Cal Fire

The report, of course, covers the period of the devastating Thomas (2017) and Woolsey (2018) fires. This week, Cal Fire announced that it had fought 324 fires statewide within a 24-hour period.

Despite the addition of light rail passenger lines, more carpools, the use of special gasoline blends, encouraging zero-emissions vehicles, and the encouragement to ditch the car for nearby errands, the sheer volume of cars, trucks and buses—particularly in Los Angeles County—is the primary reason there has been little change in better air locally. The ALA has admitted that California “…has made tremendous strides” in improving the air we breathe, but “much more” must be done.

Janice Nolan, a spokesperson for the ALA, said the report was both intended to express concern about the rising levels of harmful air particulates circulating throughout the region, and also to bring attention to a number of Trump Administration proposals that could reverse momentum to help clean the air.

“Unfortunately, this administration has focused on steps to roll back or create loopholes in core health air protections put in place to comply with the Clean Air Act,” Nolan said. In some of these cases, she explained, the Trump Administration has characterized its stance against Sacramento as an effort to reduce “overly-restrictive” regulations.

Our air is being constantly polluted

The ALA is particularly concerned with the following issues that play a significant role in air pollution:

—Carbon pollution from power plants. While there is scientific consensus that carbon pollution contributes to climate change, new regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are seen as “steps to dismantle our nation’s best federal plan (The Clean Power Plan of 2018) to limit carbon from power plants;

—Emissions from oil and gas wells, processing plants, pipelines and storage units. Recent State of the Air reports have noted elevated levels of ozone where oil and gas production has expanded. (The gas leak at the Aliso Canyon storage facility has provided verifiable proof of  this report finding);

—Car pollution. The EPA and Department of Transportation have proposed rules that would, effectively, “weaken limits on greenhouse gas emission from cars” and roll back fuel-economy standards for model year 2021-2025 vehicles. The effort, according to the ALA report, could also eliminate California’s ability to set tougher vehicle emissions standards than the federal government adheres to;

—Clean-air funding. “The proposed budget for FY 2020 claims that a priority goal is to ‘improve air quality’ but would cut EPA funding for that work substantially,” the report said, and finally:

—Denying scientific evidence. The report says that the Trump Administration is “stacking the deck” to deny the scientific evidence and has “taken steps” to remove independent science advisors from key advisory committees.

More cases of childhood asthma

How does this affect daily living in Southern California? Sonal Patel, a pediatrician and allergy specialist, told the ALA about a little girl in South Los Angeles walking with her father—for only 15 minutes or so—to the doctor’s office on a smoggy day last year. By the time they arrived at the appointment, Patel recalled, the child was reportedly wheezing heavily—despite the fact that the father said she was fine when they started out.

“The 15-minute walk caused her to have an asthma attack,” Patel said. “Just breathing the air caused her to have an asthma attack.”

The ALA report suggests that even short-term exposure to particle pollution can cause respiratory and heart problems, and can contribute to premature death. Exposure to unhealthy levels also results in increased mortality in infants and young children.

Because the Southland has been inundated this week with fine particles created when wood and other organic matter burns, the biggest health problems are those microscopic particles that can get into your eyes and respiratory system and contribute to bronchitis and aggravate chronic heart and lung diseases.

Bad air contributes to health problems

For instance, if you have heart or lung disease—such as congestive heart failure, angina, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema or asthma—you may experience health effects much earlier and at lower smoke levels than ordinarily healthy people. According to the ALA, older adults are more likely to be affected by smoke, possibly because they are more likely to have heart or lung disease than young people. Children are also more susceptible to smoke because their respiratory systems are still developing. Basically, little ones—who are outside more especially during the warm season—breathe more air (and air pollution) per pound of body weight than adults, and therefore can be more at risk to bad air quality.

There’s plenty that you can do to protect yourself and your family during bad air days. First of all, pay attention to local air quality reports. Stay alert to any news coverage or health warnings related to smoke. Find out if your community reports the EPA’s Air Quality Index. This index is based on data from local air quality monitors and informs you about the daily air quality in your area, as well as suggesting precautions you can take to protect your health.

If it looks smoky outside, it’s not a good time to water your lawn or go for a run. Don’t let the kids play outside. If you are advised to stay indoors, take steps to keep your indoor air as clean as possible. Keep your windows and doors closed. If it’s particularly hot, it’s okay to use the air conditioner (if you have one), provided you keep the “fresh air intake” door closed and the filter clean to prevent harmful air particles from creeping inside.

Tips to keep you and family healthy

You can never completely shield your home’s interior from caustic air particles. However, you can help matters by not using anything that burns (e.g. wood fireplaces, gas logs, gas stoves, candles), and don’t use the vacuum cleaner. That only stirs up particles already inside your home. Don’t smoke either, because that puts even more pollution around you and your family.

Air cleaners are a great way to keep the interior air clean and fresh. Some room air cleaners can help to remove particle levels indoors, as long as they are the right type and size for your home. Be sure not to use or buy an air cleaner that produces ozone because this only adds to indoor pollution. Most air cleaners have a little pin near the fan blade that produces negative ions which naturally keep the air clean and pleasant.

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