Rural Midwestern air has fewer, but more potent, pollutants

Most people believe that air out in the country is cleaner than city air. But a study recently published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials shows that's not necessarily so.

"Traditionally, air quality has been measured by the size of pollution particles or, more scientifically, particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less. Considered that way, urban air tends to be more polluted than rural air because the size of pollution particles is generally larger," Dana Cronin reports for Illinois Newsroom. "But a University of Illinois team looked at the toxicity of those particles, scientifically known as the oxidative potential, and found that pollution particles in rural areas can be twice as toxic even though they may be smaller."

That means that the polluted rural air has almost the same impact on health as polluted urban air, said Vishal Verma, one of the study authors. The team also found that rural air toxicity increased in the summer, when there is intense agricultural activity. "Air pollution on a farm mostly stems from livestock production (which generates methane) and fertilizer (which, when it breaks down, produces nitrous oxide). Verma says there’s been a trend away from measuring air pollution based on particle mass, and that his team’s study supports that," Cronin reports. "He argues federal agencies that track air quality, like the Environmental Protection Agency, should use different measurements to paint a more accurate picture of air pollution across the United States."