Unhealthy levels of air pollution still were found in the Chicago area last year, according to the annual air quality report of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, but the report indicates that pollution levels continue to decline.
For the state as a whole, ``the 1985 data clearly shows that air pollution levels are on a downward trend,`` said Richard J. Carlson, state EPA director. ``However, unhealthy air quality was still measured in several cities and industrialized areas.``
Carlson noted that the parts of the state with higher pollution levels in 1985 were generally in the Chicago and St. Louis metropolitan areas.
According to the report, released Wednesday in Springfield, readings from almost 300 air monitoring instruments showed lower average and peak air pollution levels in 1985.
``Improving pollution controls on industry and implementing new programs such as vehicle emission testing will do much to improve our air,`` said Mike Hayes, manager of the state EPA`s air pollution control division.
Specifically, Chicago showed higher than the annual average health standard of airborne dust in 1985, but dramatic improvement was shown in ozone concentrations and carbon monoxide. The amounts of lead, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide in Chicago air were well below the health standard for such pollutants, according to the report.
The highest average concentration in the state for airborne dust in 1985 was Granite City, at 120 micrograms.
The highest one-hour concentration of ozone recorded in 1985 in the state was 0.152 parts per million parts of air measured at the Alton monitoring station, a level well below the 0.172 measured there in 1984.