Houston-area Harris County received failing grades for both ozone pollution and particle pollution in the State of the Air report released in April, 2009 by the American Lung Association.

According to the Houston Business Journal, "the association's research found that Harris County had an average of 53.7 unhealthy ozone days each year during a three-year period between 2005 and 2007, based on an 8-hour daily maximum concentration."

Sara Dreiling, chief executive officer for the american Lung Association for the Central States, said in a statement that, "taking decisive action to clean our air must be a top public health priority. Our failing grades for ozone and particle pollution means that the health and lives of individuals are at risk. Now is the time to step up our reponse."

The State of the Air report discloses a national air quality "report card," which assigns "A" through "F" grades to communities across the nation and ranks cities and counties most disturbed by the three most widespread types of pollution - ozone or smog; annual particle pollution; and 24-hour particle pollution levels.

As reported by the Houston Business Journal, "the high number of unhealthy ozone days in Houston ranking fifth on the list of the 25 Worst Ozone Polluted Cities. The four worst cities were all in California. Dallas-Fort Worth was No. 7 on the list with an average of 38.8 ozone days per year during the three-year period."

State of the Air also revealed that six out of 10 Americans, or 186.1 milion people, dwell in regions where air pollution levels endanger public health. It details trends for the 25-most-polluted cities. One can log on to www.stateofhteair.org to find grades for 1,000 counties with air pollution monitors.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Air Quality System database compiled the data on air quality throughout the United States. Dr. Allen S. Lefohn from A.S.L's Associated in Helena Mont. was contracted by the American Lung Association to charecterize the hourly averaged ozon24-hour averaged PM 2.5 concentration information for the 3-year period for 2005-2007 for each monitoring site.

Houston Mayor Bill White, a Democrat, announced on Monday that he is considering a bid for the governor's race. He would probably face-off against Gov. Rick Perry, the likely Republican nominee.

To read the entire article from the Houston Business Journal, link here:

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