Breathe Uneasy: St. Louis Ranked Worst City for Asthma

By Chad Garrison Wed., Mar. 25 2009 at 1:19 PM

Categories: Smoking Bans

flickr.com/photos/wheatfields

The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America recently came out with its annual ranking of worst cities for asthma.

Leading the list is St. Louis. The study, funded by drug company AstraZeneca, took into consideration factors such as a city's air quality, pollen score, poverty rate, and smoking laws.

The authors wrote of the Gateway City:

Up from number nine in 2008, St. Louis has been ranked as the "No. 1 Asthma Capital" due to a number of factors including a higher than average pollen score, continued poor air quality, a lack of "100% smoke-free" laws and others.

But breathe easy folks, we now have Bill Hannegan's incredible smoke-eating machines, so the air around here should start clearing any day now. Yeah, riiiiight!

View the list of the ten-worst asthma cities, after the jump.

1.   St. Louis, MO
2.   Milwaukee, WI
3.   Birmingham, AL
4.   Chattanooga, TN
5.   Charlotte, NC
6. Memphis, TN
7.   Knoxville, TN
8.   McAllen, TX
9.   Atlanta, GA
10. Little Rock, AR