Right on the heels of being one of USA’s most bicycle-friendly cities and having one of the country’s top communities to “live and launch,” Tucson has netted another big accomplishment.

On May 1 the American Lung Association issued its annual report card on air pollution, ranking cities on their air quality. Tucson (and its air) sparkled, and placed #6 in the country for its clean air!

While one in 10 people in the U.S. live in areas with unhealthful levels of three types of pollution (ozone, short-term and year-round particle pollution), Tucsonans live in one of the top ten cities in terms of air laden with the least amount of particle pollution (and this means fresh air with the least amount of ash, soot, diesel exhaust, chemicals, metals and aerosols.) The #1 cleanest city was Cheyenne, Wyoming. Phoenix was the 19^th most polluted city in terms of ozone, and topping the list of most polluted cities in terms of year round particle pollution was Los Angeles.

The American Lung Association also reported that two of every five people—42 percent—in the U.S. live in counties that have unhealthful levels of either ozone or particle pollution. Poor air quality puts people at risk for decreased lung function and a variety of respiratory infections or illness…Tucsonans can feel protected from this thanks to our city’s clean air ranking!

To learn more about the study go to the American Lung Association website and read about The State of the Air: 2008.