Denver’s air is deteriorating, with increased ozone and soot, pushing the city from 26th to 13th among most-polluted cities in the nation, the American Lung Association said Wednesday in releasing a survey.
The troubling trend in Denver and Fort Collins, which rose to 16th among most-polluted U.S. cities, exemplified a slide in air quality across Western states, according to ALA officials, who based their analysis on federal and state government air data.
Rising temperatures and drought in the West are creating ideal conditions for episodes of high pollution from tiny particulates, the officials said. They’re urging installation of more air-testing stations to track the trend and protect public health.
“The particulate-pollution increases are a problem because, as particulates get into your lungs, they exacerbate symptoms in people who have lung disease such as asthma and also people who are just outdoors a lot: Athletes, construction workers, farmers,” ALA of Colorado vice president Cindy Liverance said. “There’s an urgent need to get more data. We have less monitoring this year than in the past. Just because you can’t see the pollution doesn’t mean the air is clean. Our air looks cleaner than in the 1970s. But we have higher ozone, and we have more and more particulates. The gains we made in the 1970s are going away.”
Extended exposure to tiny particulates — which can come from exhaust and ozone, an invisible substance in smog — can trigger breathing problems and raise residents’ risk of developing cancer.
A Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment official said the agency has expressed concern about ALA’s annual survey for several years.
“It is both inaccurate and misrepresents air quality in Colorado,” CDPHE air division spokesman Christopher Dann said in a prepared statement. “We also maintain a robust air pollution monitoring network and have added several monitoring sites in recent years.”
However, it wasn’t immediately clear whether CDPHE disputes the finding that both particulate and ozone pollution are increasing.
Environmental Defense Fund regional director Dan Grossman said a major factor causing worsening air along the Front Range, as well as in neighboring Utah and New Mexico, is oil and gas industry activity.
“Sometimes we in Denver are downwind,” Grossman said, pointing to the increased ozone in Fort Collins, closer to Weld County oil fields, as evidence of industrial impact. “This is also due to cars. While our cars are getting cleaner, we have a lot more of them.”
Denver currently does not violate federal health standards for fine particulate air pollution. But ozone levels remain out of compliance, and air experts regard the trend as troubling. Sources of particulates include exhaust from diesel engines and cars and, indirectly, from industrial development.
The 20 worst
A look at the 20 cities with the most ozone pollution, according to the American Lung Association:
1. Los Angeles
2. Visalia, Calif.
3. Bakersfield, Calif.
4. Fresno, Calif.
5. Sacramento, Calif.
6. Houston
7. Dallas-Fort Worth
8. Modesto, Calif.
9. Las Vegas
10. Phoenix
11. New York
12. Tulsa, Okla.
13. Denver
14. El Centro, Calif.
15. Oklahoma City
16. (tie) Fort Collins
St. Louis
18. Grand Rapids, Mich.
19. Chicago
20. Sheboygan, Wis.
