Loma Linda...Having lived in CA for over 43 years and driving through LA in the 80s and 90s and living in west LA from 2000 to 2006, I experienced first hand the air quality in Loma Linda and other parts of SoCal. Poor air quality in the LA basis is partly due to the mountains trapping air pollutants and dust and etc and the sunlight create smog. There were times one could not see the mountains. It was awful. The coast would be marginally better.

South Coast Air Quality Management District, one of the most stringent districts in setting air quality standards would routinely post data and studies indicating the thousands of residents die each year due to air pollution. SCAQMD includes Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, including the Coachella Valley. The region is home to more than 17 million people–44% of the population of the entire state of California.

This morning Loma Linda air quality is lower than where I live in San Diego at the coast but both are really low.

I find it hard to believe that Loma Linda has been a blue zone for longevity over the last 100 years assuming that good air quality is a hallmark of aging. There has to be confounding factors determining longevity in Loma Linda and I suspect other Blue Zones. FWIW.