The EPA [1] has released the latest report on the state of the nation's air and the results may have you reconsidering where you live.

Those who reside in New York and California are at the greatest risk of developing cancer from air toxins. The national average is 41.5 million residents per million and New York comes in at 68 residents per million and California at 66 per million.

The EPA bases its toxin evaluation [2] on the presence of heavy metals like lead; chemicals like benzene; [3] combustion byproducts, like acrolein; [4] and solvents, like perchloroethylene and methylene chloride [5].

After New Yorkers and Californians, residents of Oregon, Washington, D.C., and New Jersey breathe the worst air in the country while Wyoming, South Dakota, and Montana received the EPA's vote for the cleanest air.

[via CBS News [6]]

Image: battelle.org