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The Environmental Protection Agency released a report last week calling Los Angeles County out for having the nation’s deadliest air. The report represents a “snapshot in time” for the cancer risk assessment of a lifetime of chronic exposure to 124 inhalants. While the average cancer risk across the nation is 36 cases among 1 million people, LA County residents experience a whopping 1200 cases per 1 million. The EPA considers a cancer risk of more than 100 per million unacceptable. Within LA County the city of Cerritos has the worst air, possibly as a result of a chemical leak 7 years ago. The EPA revealed that in 2002 an industrial plant run by a company called PGP Industries in Santa Fe Springs emitted a significant amount of a hazardous chemical called Hydrazine into the air. The EPA is working with the South Coast Air Quality Management to investigate the company and surrounding environment particularly in Cerritos. Hydrazine is highly toxic to humans and is a known carcinogen that can cause damage to the kidneys, liver, and reproductive organs. A second report also released last week underscores the pollution risk to pregnant women and their fetuses in LA County. Significantly higher incidence of preeclampsia and preterm birth were experienced by mothers-to-be breathing Los Angeles’ polluted air.

GUEST: Luis Cabrales, Senior Campaign and Outreach Associate Coalition for Clean Air.

For more information, visit www.coalitionforcleanair.org.