Also see: on sex and reproduction

Extracts from article in Geography Review by Nick Middleton of Oxford University.

"Los Angeles: smog city, is the most polluted city in the USA".

"the concentration of suspended particulate matter and a number of cancer-causing chemicals continue at high levels.
"the residents of LA are hundreds of times more at risk of fatal disease from air pollution than the 1990 national Clean Air Act allows."

"Situated in a basin surrounded by mountains and sea, wind speeds are low on average due to frequent temperature inversions = pollutants do not readily dispense. Breeze just cause trapped pollutants to be circulated around the basin. Plenty of sunshine causes photochemical reactions such as ozone formation."

"Huge population of cars and people - 1 million vehicles for 14 million people as of 1990.

"Most air pollutants directly affect respiratory and cardiovascular systems, while some are carcinogenic.

"Butadiene, benzene and formaldehyde are present at unusually high levels in the air over the Los Angeles basin and all three have been shown to cause tumors in lungs, breasts, ovaries, livers, thyroid glands and other organs. For this reason the risk of cancer from air pollution in Lod Angeles is thought to be the highest in the country... The death rate from breathing suspended particulates - that are not necessarily carcinogenic - is also highest in LA.

                By Paul Grant

                WASHINGTON (Reuters) - By the millions, more and more
                Americans are breathing dirtier air, and larger US cities such as Los
                Angeles and Atlanta remain among the worst for pollution, the American
                Lung Association said in a report on Tuesday.

                Los Angeles was the worst of 382 US counties receiving failing grades when it came to ozone air
                pollution, or smog, a 15% leap from the 333 counties getting failing grades last year, the association
                said in its annual ``State of the Air'' report. The number of people living in areas with failing marks rose
                to 141 million from 132 million.

Monday May 7, 2001 12:44 PM ET
                Study Shows Los Angeles Worst for
                Commuting

                                     WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Los Angeles is again the worst rush-hour
                                     traffic in the United States, but new findings released on Monday showed
                                     it was also the worst for commuting overall because there were few mass
                                     transit options.

                                     San Francisco was second for traffic headaches in the Surface
                                     Transportation Policy Project analysis, but ranked 29th in the group's
                ``Congestion Burden Index'' because mass transit gave almost 500,000 commuters alternatives to
                driving to work each day.

Thursday February 22, 01 7:02 PM ET
                    Human Waste Polluting California Beaches

                    By Keith Mulvihill

                    NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Human waste is flowing into the waters off
                    Southern California's beaches, posing a potential health risk to the millions
                    who surf, swim and dive in the region each year, researchers report.

                    The scientists say the results of their study, which detected human viruses in
                    the water off beaches from Malibu to the Mexican border, ``call for both a
                    reevaluation of our current recreational water quality standards and
                    monitoring of recreational waters for human viruses on a regular basis.'' Most
                    of the time, monitoring tests look for human intestinal bacteria, not viruses.

                WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than half of all Americans
                breathepolluted air that can damage their health because the government
                doesn'tfully enforce clean air laws, the American Lung Association said
                onWednesday.

---

               "It is clearly time to get serious about enforcing all of theprovisions of the
                Clean Air Act so that we placeAmericans' health above business and
                political interests," said JohnKirkwood, president and chief executive
                officer of the American LungAssociation.

---

                According to the association's report, the 10 most polluted areaswere
                Los Angeles, Riverside and Orange County in southern
                California;Bakersfield, Fresno, Visalia, Tulare and Porterville,
                California;Houston, Galveston and Brazoria, Texas; Atlanta; Merced,
                California;Knoxville, Tennessee; Charlotte, North Carolina, and
                neighboringRockville, South Carolina, and Sacramento, California.

                The cleanest big cities included Bellingham, Washington;
                ColoradoSprings, Colorado; and Lincoln, Nebraska.
 

============================

Thu, May 13, 2004

Air Pollution Linked to Genetic Mutations

By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer

WASHINGTON - Sooty air pollution can cause genetic damage that can be passed along to offspring, Canadian researchers reported Thursday in a study on mice.

Follow-up work is needed to learn if people can inherit pollution-damaged DNA that harms their health. In the meantime, the discovery is sure to increase scientists' worry about particulates, the microscopic soot particles emitted by factories, power plants and diesel-burning vehicles.

The good news: Air filters protected the mice.


In the new experiments, biologist James Quinn and colleagues housed two groups of mice near the steel mills for 10 weeks. One group breathed outside air, while the other was housed in a chamber equipped with HEPA filters — high-efficiency air filters designed to catch microscopic particles.

Then, the mice were bred and their offspring checked for specific DNA mutations that are passed through the father's sperm.

Mice that breathed filtered air had mutation rates 52 percent lower than the mice exposed to full-strength steel mill pollution.
---
"At the moment, we are grappling with the fact that even though the air is visibly cleaner, we're still finding adverse health effects" from particulates, said Hopkins' Samet.

If those same particles make it all the way to sperm-forming cells, "that would be quite a remarkable sequence" — one that needs confirmation, Samet cautioned. Still, the potential for affecting next generations makes it "both a public health issue and an issue for the ecosystem," he said.   

feb 18 2005
Lead in Environment Causing Violent Crime - Study

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lead left in paint, water, soil and elsewhere may not only be affecting children's intelligence but may cause a significant proportion of violent crime, a U.S. researcher argued Friday.

He said the U.S. government needs to do more to lower lead levels in the environment and parents need to think more about where their children may be getting exposed to lead.

"When environmental lead finds its way into the developing brain, it disturbs neural mechanisms responsible for regulation of impulse. That can lead to antisocial and criminal behavior," said Dr. Herbert Needleman, a professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

11-Oct-06

City of los angeles, parking violation, is the most pathetic organization I’ve ever seen. If you don’t have change for parking meter you are not allowed to stop go get change for the meter. The cadets are vicious in issuing tickets. I am sure they're good people but their roles maybe structured so as to give them incentives or require them to issue ticket. Even if you tell someof them, I'll be right back (to get change for example), they still issue a ticket. If you contest it and lose and want to appeal it it’s $25. if you win the appeal meaning you were not guilty, you still have to pay $25 according to the agent I talked to. Fighting a parking ticket in LA, no matter how good your excuse, is a demoralizing loss of time.