10 US cities with the worst air quality revealed by study
Brady Knox
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A new study including cities in the United States revealed the 10 places with the worst air quality in the country.
A global study from the Swiss air quality technology company IQAir found that 90% of the world’s population experiences poor air quality, and just six countries meet the World Health Organization‘s safe air quality recommendations, CNBC reported.
The company measured the concentration of PM 2.5 — lung-damaging airborne particles — in the air. The WHO recommends anything below five. The U.S. did not meet the qualification because the country had an average of 8.9.
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However, that number was skewed by cities that raise the average — mainly ten places with a PM 2.5 concentration of 10 or higher.
The most polluted city in the U.S. as of 2022 is Columbus, Ohio, at 13.1 PM 2.5 particles per cubic meter. Columbus was followed by Atlanta, at 12.1; Chicago, at 11.8; Indianapolis, at 11.3; Dallas, at 10.9; Baltimore, at 10.7; Los Angeles, at 10.5; Sacramento, at 10.4; Houston, at 10.1; and Detroit at 10.
Despite the relatively high concentration of PM 2.5 in those cities compared to the national average, even the most polluted U.S. city has far better air quality than those at the bottom of the global list.
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The city with the worst air quality in the world is Lahore, India. It scored 97.4, making it nearly seven and a half times more polluted than the most polluted city in the U.S. The countries with the worst air quality, in general, were Chad, Iraq, Pakistan, Bahrain, and Bangladesh.
Poor air quality is tied to a number of health issues, including increased asthma attacks, heart attacks, and premature death.