You’ll Never Believe Which U.S. City is the Least Toxic

According to a new Forbes report, Las Vegas is the least toxic city in the country.

While that may surprise you, here’s one to really blow your mind: The top 10 cleanest cities in the U.S. are crowded, urban areas, such as New York City and Phoenix. According to Forbes, poor air quality and high pollution is many times not synonymous with the size of the city.

Las Vegas is the country's least toxic city based on the new study. According to Forbes, dense populations with excellent transportation can actually be a good thing in terms of air quality. Photo: Flickr/Christopher Chan

The rankings were based on amount of Superfund sites in the principal city, number of facilities that release toxic chemicals and the overall amount of toxic chemicals released into the air, based on information from the U.S. EPA. Atlanta took the No. 1 spot for most toxic city.

“While the Atlanta metro area takes top honors for toxicity, don’t blame the city alone,”  writes Forbes reporter Francesca Levy. “The Atlanta metro area includes the cities of Sandy Springs and Marietta, the sites of chemical plants, metal coaters and concrete factories.”

Chicago took the third spot on the list. However, in October, the EPA officially removed the city from its list of most polluted areas in the U.S. The EPA report also added to the argument that pollution does not equate with size. Of the 25 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S., only 12 do not meet the EPA’s pollution standards.

Earlier this year, the EPA announced it would use $600 million from the Recovery Act to fund major cleanups for the 50 most polluted hazardous waste sites in the U.S.