D.C. is the 13th smoggiest city in the nation under new standards, according to a recent study done by U.S. Public Interest Research Group, an environmental group.
Washington's ranking is based on the number of times the city has exceeded health standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency, Brandon Wu, a Clean Air Associate at PIRG, said. The city went over the recommended limit 64 times last year.
"[Smog] just doesn't seem like a problem here," said Serene Gallegos, a freshman in the School of International Service."
Houston and Los Angeles topped the list and other cities mostly from the Midwest and the Mid-Atlantic states and California made the list, PIRG's website said.
Deanna Siegfried, a senior, says that she "[doesn't] see the smog here as a problem."
"After having lived in L.A., it's clear here," she said. "There you felt it all the time, in your clothes, on your skin."
Smog occurs when o-zone in the atmosphere mixes and reacts with nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxides, which are released from burning things like gas, according to the Environmental Protection Agency's Web site. A brownish haze usually appears over cities and makes it hard to see, usually in the summer when there is very direct sunlight the site said.
Wu said smog also has negative effects on health.
"It is linked to asthma, and higher levels of ozone are a cause of birth defects according to a study done by UCLA. It is also a problem with populations at risk, especially the elderly," Wu said.
The new rankings are based on the EPA's new eight-hour o-zone standard in the Clean Air Act.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, there are two national protection standards for carbon monoxide that measure the levels of CO in the air. The one-hour standard consists of 35 parts per million and the eight-hour standard consists of 9 parts per million. If an area's CO standards are too high, it must create and implement a plan to reduce CO emissions.
Donna Heron, EPA spokeswoman for the mid-Atlantic region, says that the "revised standard was created because scientific studies have shown that the old one-hour study wasn't protecting people - people [living] under the one-hour standard were developing respiratory problems."
Heron added that the EPA classifies the D.C. area, which includes the metropolitan area along with thirteen counties and cities in Maryland and Virginia, as "moderate."
Moderate is the second lowest classification out of six rankings in smog by the EPA, which ranging from the lowest and best or "marginal" category to the highest and worst or "extreme" category, Heron said.
The D.C area has six years to come into compliance with the stricter regulations, Heron said. The decision for how areas can lower smog is still in the works, she added.
