Bret Hart Once Said That Pittsburgh Was The Place to Stick the Nozzle When Giving America an Enema. Prophetic?

Pittsburgh overtakes L.A. as nation's sootiest city

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- A city outside California has, for the first time, been named the sootiest in the nation, one of the categories the American Lung Association uses to determine the most polluted cities in the country.

The "Steel City" of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania received bad marks for its air quality.

Los Angeles, California, still took the all-around pollution title, though.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, overtook Los Angeles in the category that measures short-term particle pollution or soot. Los Angeles, the country's longtime soot and smog leader, has enacted aggressive measures to tackle sources of pollution, resulting in a substantial drop in particle pollution levels, said Janice Nolen, the association's assistant vice president of national policy and advocacy.

"It's not that Pittsburgh has gotten worse; it's that Los Angeles has gotten better," Nolen said. "If the trend continues, Pittsburgh will top two lists, and LA will only be leading the nation in ozone."