Atopic dermatitis, commonly known as eczema, is a skin disease identified by scaliness and itchiness of the skin. One of the largest contributing factors to eczema is the air quality of the city you live in. Therefore, anyone suffering from eczema needs to be extra cautious about skin health and the pollution in their city.

Here’s a list of the five most polluted cities to live in if you are suffering from eczema.

1. San Francisco
The winds in the city allow the polluted air to travel quickly from one place to another. About 9 million people in San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose drive vehicles in these cities and contribute to the poor quality of air. Thus, the high amount of dirt in the air makes San Francisco one of the most polluted cities to live in.

2. Salt Lake City
The most populated city of Utah, Salt Lake City, is located right in front of the Wasatch Mountains. During the winters, a warm air layer stays above and keeps the cool air trapped below. This is known as temperature inversions. Due to this phenomenon, the pollution produced by the city stays inside the city and is a matter of concern for anyone worried about their skin health or pollution.

3. Denver
The city is working toward bringing down the ground ozone levels. The city applied stricter regulations on oil and gas to fight the pollution levels. Also, there has been some relief in the overall movement of 3.6 million residents due to the pandemic. This has also helped in bringing the pollution levels down. But the rise in temperature and dry weather has caused frequent wildfires across the Colorado state.

4. San Diego
The city has ranked extremely poorly on the ozone report, with over 100 high ozone readings. The air in the city is toxic and poses a threat to its population, especially for people with allergies, asthma, and skin diseases.

5. Sacramento
This city is shaped like a bowl, and this contributes to the high pollution levels. Due to its shape, the pollutants emitted from the cars are trapped in the city nearer to the ground. Sacramento, home to 2.6 million people, also experiences high ozone days, an unhealthy rise in particle pollution, and yearly particle pollution levels.

6. Phoenix
The state of Arizona experiences less cover of the clouds than any other state in the country. Among all the cities of Arizona, Phoenix is the second sunniest. The more sunlight reaches the ground, the higher the ozone levels. All these factors combined make Phoenix one of the most polluted cities in the U.S. To fight pollution levels, the residents of the city are trying to reduce the number of drivers and limit fireworks and fire pits for burning wood.