St. Louis in the Top 10!

St. Louis has yet another great distinction in our nation - the 10th most poluted city in America. Isn't it bad enough that we topped the list as the countries most violent urban area with more than 250,000 people, we're #1 for Chlamydia rates, #3 for gonorrhea, and #5 for syphilis? Just let us have some clean air already!

Although I have to sheepishly admit that this gives me a lot of hope for the future (I should say hope for MY future, which is kind of rude). Since moving to St. Louis my entire respiratory health has gone to crap. It wasn't until I moved here that I was diagnosed with asthma and began enjoying yearly bouts of broncitis/pneumonia. I didn't join the ranks of allergy sufferers until my introduction to this great city as well. What does this mean? It htink it means that if I get my tail out of here I may escape some of these impediments. That would rock!

And I'm really curious as to how Chicago and New York escaped this list.

The most polluted U.S. urban areas by year-round particle
pollution:
1: Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, California
2: Pittsburgh-New Castle, Pennsylvania
3: Bakersfield, California
4: Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman, Alabama
5: Detroit-Warren-Flint, Michigan
6: Cleveland-Akron-Elyria, Ohio
7: Visalia-Porterville, California
8: Cincinnati-Middletown-Wilmington, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana
9: Indianapolis-Anderson-Columbus, Indiana
10: St. Louis-St. Charles-Farmington, Missouri