Boston rates well in American Lung Association's State of the Air Report

The U.S. has made a lot of progress in terms of cleaning up its air pollution in the last few decades. But there's much more work to be done as the introduction to the annual State of the Air Report says, "Air pollution continues to threaten the lives and health of millions of people in the United States despite great progress since the modern Clean Air Act was first passed in 1970. Even as the nation explores the complex challenges of global warming and energy, air pollution remains widespread and dangerous."

The report examines air pollution on a county level, ranks the best and worst areas in the country in terms of pollution, and assigns each county a grade. While Boston did not make the list of the top 25 cleanest cities in the U.S., it did fare pretty well in the rankings. The city ranked among the top 50 or so cities in the country in terms of short-term particle pollution and received a grade of an A in the particle pollution categories.

One area of concern for Boston, however, was the ozone pollution (smog) grade for the city. The city did not rank in the list of the most polluted cities as far as smog goes, but it did receive a grade of F in this category from the American Lung Association. This means that a lot of people are still driving alone to work instead of taking transit, bicycling/walking, or carpooling. Don't forget that your company offers you programs and incentives to help you use these methods to get to work each day. You should check them out and think about commuting some way other than driving alone.

To read the full State of the Air Report, go to this website.