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A smoggy haze hovers over the Cleveland skyline, causing bathers to seek respite from the heat at Edgewater Beach during a record-setting eight consecutive ozone action days in 2010.

(John Kuntz/Plain Dealer file)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Three metropolitan areas in Northeast Ohio were among 72 areas in the U.S. that suffered through more than 100 days of unhealthy air pollution in 2015, according to a report released today by the Environment America Research & Policy Center.

The Akron area paced Northeast Ohio with 188 days of moderate to unhealthy levels of soot particles in the air, followed by Cleveland-Elyria with 175, and Youngstown-Warren-Boardman with 142.

Although the Cleveland area ranks among the worst particulate-polluted cities in the U.S., a different report released last year had a silver lining as Cleveland marked its lowest particulate pollution data in history.

The dirtiest air in the state was in the Ohio River cities of Steubenville-Weirton, W.Va., with 196 days of moderate to unhealthy soot air. That ranked as the ninth-worst in the country.

Nationwide, the sootiest city in 2015 was Hilo, Hawaii, with 293 unhealthy days due to pollution from volcanic activity. It was followed closely by Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., with 272 days, and Pittsburgh, Pa., with 220 days.

Particulate matter are the microscopic pieces of soot, smoke, dirt, dust and liquid in the air that are byproducts of burning fossil fuels at factories, power plants and in automobiles. They are considered the most harmful form of air pollution because they are able to bypass the body's defenses and be inhaled into the lungs.

Soot increases the risks of early death and serious health problems such as asthma and cardiovascular disease, according to the American Lung Association.

Northeast Ohio showed lower danger levels of smog pollution, or ground-level ozone, in 2015, according to the report.

The Youngstown-Warren-Boardman metropolitan area topped the region with 71 days of moderate to unhealthy smog readings, followed by Cleveland-Elyria with 68, Canton-Massillon with 55, Ashtabula with 42, and Akron with 22.

Cincinnati had the smoggiest air in the state with 88 days. Columbus had 61.

Nationally, seven of the top 10 smoggiest metro areas were in California, paced by Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., with 233 unhealthy days. Residents of 34 metropolitan areas suffered through more than 100 smoggy days in 2015.

"Across the nation, the report found continued improvement in air quality," said Shelly Kiser of the American Lung Association of Ohio. "But more than half of the people in the U.S. live in counties that have unhealthful levels of either ozone or particle pollution."

Smog, also known as ground-level ozone, is a toxic gas formed when nitrogen dioxide and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) combine in the atmosphere and are cooked by ultraviolet radiation. It is different from stratospheric ozone, which forms naturally in the upper atmosphere and protects us from the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays.

Significant contributors of smog ingredients in Northeast Ohio are emissions from cars, trucks, trains, boats, and lawn care equipment, plus coal-burning power plants.

Prior to last year, only Lake County in Northeast Ohio exceeded the federal ground-level ozone standards. Prevailing winds from the southwest pick up the ozone that has been cooking in the atmosphere above Lorain, Cuyahoga, Summit and Medina counties, and carries it into Lake County, according to Joe MacDonald, manager of environmental planning at the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency.

The primary cause of the ground-level ozone in Northeast Ohio is from automobile exhaust, not factories belching smoke, MacDonald said. "We don't have the traffic of Chicago and Los Angeles, but we have a lot of people driving."

Scientists with the Environment America Research & Policy Center, based in Washington, D.C., warned that millions of Americans could be exposed to more severe levels of unhealthy air pollution than the charts indicate. That's because there are local pollution hot spots located near highways, airports and factories where studies have shown residents living nearby can suffer greater health dangers.

Worse air pollution could also lie ahead as climate change heats the environment, creating conditions more conducive to increased smog and particulate pollution.

To help improve the air we breathe, the study authors recommend defending and building upon improvements in air quality obtained through the Clean Air Act; strengthening regional greenhouse gas initiatives; reducing the use of coal and natural gas at electric power plants; maintaining clean car standards to regulate tailpipe emissions, and promoting hybrid and zero-emission cars.

The latest study seems to show an improvement for Cleveland compared to previous studies. For instance, in two studies released last year, Cleveland ranked as the 11th and 34th-sootiest city in the country. Cleveland was among 16 cities that reported their lowest levels ever of particle pollution.

Those same two studies showed that, although the Cleveland area experienced fewer high ozone days than the previous year, the city still remained the 27th most ozone-polluted in the country, according to the American Lung Association.

Ground-level ozone is harmful to public health and especially children, older adults and those with asthma and other lung diseases.

Nationwide, ground-level ozone pollution has decreased as major sources of ozone-creating emissions such as vehicles are cleaned up and coal-fired power plants are closed down.