Latest Smog Stories

Particulate matter carries "˜endotoxins,' worsening the adverse reactionA post-mortem study of the hearts of 21 young people in Mexico City has found that the heart begins to show the adverse effects of air pollution at a young age and that tiny bits of inactivated bacteria that hitch a ride on pollutants may make the problem worse.The study is part of a growing body of research showing that air pollution can damage the heart and lead to increased risk of heart disease and heart attacks. But...

More than half of all the people living in the United States currently live in areas where pollution can make the air dangerous to inhale, according the American Lung Association's 'State of the Air 2010' report, which was released on Wednesday.According to the key findings of the report, which were published online by the American Lung Association, "the air quality in many places has improved, but that over 175 million people--roughly 58 percent--still suffer pollution levels that are...

SAINT PAUL, Minn., April 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Minnesota's grades improved in the latest American Lung Association State of the Air Report, earning passing "A," "B," and "C" grades for air quality in the 18 counties with enough data to be scored. The report is based on data collected and confirmed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency during the years 2006-2008. It does not include the most recent winter months, when southern Minnesota experienced a record number (23) of air...

SIOUX FALLS, S.D., April 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Lung Association's annual State of the Air Report released today gives South Dakota fairly good grades for outdoor air quality. For particulate pollution measured in a 24-hour period, the state scored all "B" grades, with the exception of one "A" in Brown County. For ozone pollution, the three counties given a grade were Jackson and Minnehaha Counties with an "A" grade and Custer County with a "B" grade for ozone. Counties...

Despite Gains, American Lung Association finds Healthy Air Remains a Goal, not Reality for Most U.S. Cities WASHINGTON, April 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Lung Association's State of the Air 2010 report finds that a decade of cleanup measures to reductions in emissions from coal-fired powered plants and the transition to cleaner diesel fuels and engines have paid off in cutting levels of deadly particle and ozone pollution, especially in eastern and midwestern U.S. cities,...

American Lung Association 2010 State of the Air Report Cites Dangerously High Air Pollution Across the State, Putting the Health of Californians At Risk OAKLAND, Calif., April 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Californians continue to be at risk from the dangerous air pollution they breathe every day. Despite significant progress that has been made in improving air quality over the past two decades, the American Lung Association's 2010 State of the Air Report shows that Californians breathe...

Pollen counts are hovering at record levels in the United States. A massive plume of ash "” released by a volcano with a tongue-twister of a name "” is causing havoc across Europe. Parts of the Himalayas are bathed in soot levels comparable to those found over major cities. Details about all of those events "” and much more "” are available from the Smog Blog, a website that monitors air pollution much like meteorologists track the daily weather. The blog, managed by faculty and...

A new study identifies cattle feed as a possible culprit in the long-standing mystery of why California's San Joaquin Valley "” a moderately-populated agricultural region "” has higher levels of ozone (one of the main ingredients in smog) than many densely-populated cities. The report, which explains how fermented cattle feed works with automotive exhausts in forming ozone, is in ACS' Environmental Science & Technology, a semi-monthly journal.Michael Kleeman and colleagues note that...

Exposure to an increased level of air pollutants, especially nitrogen dioxide, has been associated with lower likelihoods of successful pregnancy among women undergoing in vitro fertilization, according to a team of fertility researchers.The team examined the outcomes of the first pregnancy attempt of 7,403 women undergoing IVF at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, Pa.; Shady Grove Fertility, Rockville, Md.; and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New...

Surface ozone levels in the south west of the Iberian Peninsula usually exceed the protection threshold established by EU regulations for people and plants in spring and summer, according to data gathered between 2000 and 2005 by four measuring stations in Huelva, one of them next to the Doñana National Park.The limits established to protect human and plant health by the European Directive on ozone are usually exceeded from April onwards, especially during the summer, in the south west of...