An AQMD report cautions that many areas still have dangerously high
levels of pollution. Diesel exhaust is the largest problem. 					 		
					 										 					 	Cancer risk from Southern California's air
pollution has declined 17% over the last seven years but remains
dangerously high across the region, particularly near ports and rail
yards, along truck-laden freeways and in parts of the Inland Empire,
according to a study released by regional air regulators Friday.

South Coast Air Quality Management District officials attributed the
decline to tough regulations on dry-cleaners and industry; grants to
fund cleaner technologies and fuels; and emission-reduction programs
at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Levels of heavy metals,
solvents and other known carcinogens fell at most monitoring stations
in the region, according to the report.

 "This reduction in cancer risk shows that we are on the right track
in tackling toxic air pollution," said William Burke, chairman of the
AQMD Governing Board, which released the report. "However, the
remaining cancer risk is completely unacceptable. Thousands of
residents are getting sick and dying from toxic air pollution. Some of
them live in low-income minority neighborhoods that may be heavily
impacted by cancer-causing air pollution."

 The analysis found that exposure to the 30 common toxic substances
measured could result in 1,000 to 1,200 cancer cases per 1 million
residents over 70 years. That is a 17% reduction from the average risk
estimated in AQMD's previous study of toxic substances in the air in
1999. The cancer risk generally considered reasonable by health
experts is 10 cases per million people over a 70-year period, said
AQMD Executive Officer Barry Wallerstein.

Diesel exhaust from ships, trains and trucks remains the single
largest problem, the analysis found.

"Diesel exhaust is the 900-pound gorilla," said board member Dennis
Yates, mayor of Chino.

"There's 1,000 steps to what they did, with varying degrees of
validity," said Amy Kyle, an environmental health scientist at UC
Berkeley who specializes in interpreting data used to develop policy.
Kyle noted that the type of analysis done by AQMD focused on only 30
of nearly 200 contaminants recognized as being toxic almost 20 years
ago and that their conclusions were based on "very limited testing."

"They identify these 30, but for many other chemicals, we don't know
their toxicity," she said. "There's no doubt diesel is a major
culprit. . . . No one would argue that. But we don't know what else is
out there, and that is my concern."

Wallerstein said the toxic substances they monitored are widely
recognized as the "major drivers" of air pollution and related health
effects. He said one of the main reasons for updating the study was to
use newer, more widely recognized modeling and updated emissions
information.

SOURCE: Janet Wilson, Los Angeles Times January 5, 2008 	

Additional information can be found on the agency's website at  www.aqmd.gov.

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