Just two weeks after their births, infants in the Los Angeles area have been exposed to more pollution than the U.S. government considers acceptable over a lifetime, according to a report released this week by the Washington, D.C.-based National Environmental Trust. The report, which looked at pollution levels in the L.A. region, the San Francisco Bay Area, the San Joaquin Valley, the Sacramento Valley, and San Diego, found that children in California are at a greater risk than adults of getting cancer from airborne contaminants. Each year, 102,000 tons of toxic emissions are released in the Golden State; in the L.A. area, according to the report, the emissions cause an estimated 720 cancer cases per million people annually — a risk almost 1,000 times greater than the federal government’s acceptable limit of one case per million people.
