Causes of Air Pollution on Los Angeles

Air pollution, has been observed in Los Angeles for years. There is a difference in the air from many other cities’ in the fact it feels more moist, and less clean. I could tell the difference of the air in the city since the first time I visited. According to The Press Enterprise in 2007, “Los Angeles topped air pollution. A major cause is constant heavy traffic.
It is known that Los Angeles is a heavy populated city with lots of traffic. According to ‘Su, a person who researched pollution in the city, Los Angeles had a population of “16.7 million people.” A huge amount of those people rely on their vehicles for transportation which causes constant rush hours. Su said, “Each of these vehicles release unwanted toxins such as; nitric oxides, nitrogen dioxide, and nitrogen oxides into the environment.”
People’s health are also affected. The Environmental Protection Agency have been discussing problems with traffic pollution. They talk about the release of particulate matter, “which is a mixture of particles and droplets such as acids, organic chemicals, metal, and dust particles.” Those particles cause health problems in the heart and lungs. They also pointed out how, “50 percent of emissions of particulate matter in urban areas is related to road traffic.” Roosevelt from The Los Angeles Times talks about air pollution’s affect on the hardening of arteries. Los Angeles residents living near freeways experience a hardening of the arteries that leads to heart disease and strokes at twice the rate of those who live farther away and about 2 million residents live within 300 feet of the freeways.


Due to the growing population, more people are driving, however, air pollution can be reduced substantially. If less people drive and use bikes and busses, the amount of pollution will decrease greatly. If every person that drives in Los Angeles carpools with at least one other person then that would cut the amount of unwanted particles being released into the air in half. Los Angeles is a great, but crowded city where the community can work together to make it a healthier place to live.