Nothing to Sneeze At

Nestled on a shady street in Pacific Palisades, the starter home has three bedrooms and two baths in 1,300 square feet and--in real estate lingo--room for a pool and great potential for a second story add-on.

But the feature that might help fetch the $689,000 asking price is actually free.

This house is surrounded by fresh air.

On a sultry, smoggy Sunday that left inland residents gasping, a breeze blowing through this home’s front windows could be felt in the dining area, where Tina Black, an agent in the Palisades office of Coldwell Banker-Jon Douglas Co., stood ready to accept offers.

“When clients call, the first thing they mention [wanting] is the fresh air,” she said. House hunters from

out of the immediate area almost always notice how much fresher the air is on her side of the hill, Black said.

Tudor Martin, an agent in the Brentwood office of Coldwell Banker-Jon Douglas Co., agreed: “I would say roughly 50% of the people we work with ask [about air quality].”

Fresh air was definitely on the wish list of Larry Penfold, general manager of the Century Wilshire Hotel, as he house-hunted one Sunday in July.

He and his family have moved here from Kailua, the windward side of Oahu, and he admits the trade winds have them spoiled. “It’s hard to adjust” to the smoggier parts of L.A., he noted.

So he was inspecting an open house on Sunset Boulevard near Temescal Canyon, where both fresh air and the proximity of Palisades High School, where his son hoped to enroll, were selling points.

At a nearby open house, Dr. Osman Ratib, UCLA professor and vice chairman of radiological sciences, and his wife, Beatrice, were hoping to find both fresh air and the cooler temperatures that often accompany it.

“If you look at the downtown L.A. area, you can clearly see the air is better here,” said Ratib, who is back in Los Angeles after working in Switzerland for 10 years.

Where can Southern California house hunters find the freshest air?

When the question is posed to physicians and air quality experts, they repeat the same mantra:

The closer to the beach the better. The higher the better.

But that’s only the short, simple answer.

The more complete and complicated answer depends, say these experts, on other variables. Are you simply trying to avoid smog? Or do you have allergies, asthma or both and need to avoid the triggers to sneezing and wheezing?

Of the two, it’s easier to find a house in a less smoggy neighborhood.

Beach areas are best, said Robert F. Phalen, professor of community and environmental medicine and director of the Air Pollution Health Effects Laboratory at UC Irvine.

“If the beach is too expensive, I would consider [locations] up five miles inland,” Phalen said. “If that’s still too expensive, try Orange County. Avoid the areas around Azusa and Riverside.”

Beyond those guidelines, house hunters can award their own rankings of “most smoggy” and “least smoggy” to neighborhoods by studying statistics from the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

The AQMD collects pollution measurements hourly at about 32 monitoring stations around the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino and displays the levels on its Web page (https://www.aqmd.gov).

In addition, the AQMD has compiled an analysis of 1997 air quality statistics for all its monitoring stations, taking into account ozone (what most refer to as smog), carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, particulates, lead and sulfate.

Air quality is getting better, said Bill Kelly, an AQMD spokesman. Last year, he said, there was just one smog alert.

Still, in recent years, the South Coast Air Basin has been the worst in the United States in terms of annual number of days exceeding federal air quality standards, as the AQMD notes in its “Current Air Quality and Trends” report.

Last year, ozone levels were the worst in the East San Bernardino Valley, with that area’s station recording levels exceeding the federal ozone standard on 35 days, more than any other monitoring station. (Federal standards are less stringent than state standards.)

Close behind were the Central San Bernardino Valley monitoring station No. 2, registering 32 days above federal limits, and the Central San Bernardino Mountains, registering 29 days.

Last year, one of the the East San Gabriel Valley’s two monitoring stations exceeded the federal smog standard on 18 days and the other exceeded it on 11 days; the Santa Clarita Valley station registered 13 days of excessive smog.

Nine monitoring regions did not exceed the federal ozone standards at all in 1997, including Central Los Angeles, Northwest Coastal Los Angeles, Southwest Coastal Los Angeles, the South Coast, the West San Fernando Valley, South-Central Los Angeles, Central Orange County and North Coastal Orange County and one of two monitoring stations in the Coachella Valley.

But smog doesn’t tell the whole story. For instance, the South-Central Los Angeles monitoring station had no days in 1997 on which the federal ozone level was exceeded, but on 14 days it did exceed the federal standard for carbon monoxide (a byproduct of combustion that comes almost entirely from motor vehicles).

In other areas, toxins from industry can pose a problem.

Besides paying attention to pollution levels in various neighborhoods, Phalen advises house hunters to note traffic volume in the area. “Traffic and congestion generate smog,” he noted.

So how close is too close to a freeway?

“If you’re by one freeway, 100 yards is no big deal [in terms of exposure to air pollution],” Phalen said. “But if your house is 10 miles downwind from a six-freeway interchange that carries hundreds of thousands of cars, you could be affected by the pollution.”

For house hunters who are battling allergies or asthma, some of these same caveats about clean air apply.

“Generally I tell my patients to live as close to the coast as possible,” said Dr. Bernard Geller, a Santa Monica allergist on staff at UCLA-Santa Monica Medical Center and St. John’s Hospital and Health Center. “Higher is better, too.”

The higher you are, the drier it is likely to be, said Dr. Robert Eitches, an allergist on staff at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and an assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at UCLA. And that usually means fewer dust mites, which are a frequent allergen, and fewer mold spores.

If money were not a consideration, Eitches said the ideal environment for the allergy-prone would be a high-rise building along the Wilshire corridor or an oceanfront home with windows only on the waterfront side.

Beyond those generalities, those who are allergy- and asthma-prone should take a careful look at the wind patterns, traffic volume, vegetation and house construction before picking a new neighborhood.

Suppose there is a constant stiff breeze at an oceanfront home. “If there is a lot of wind, it can increase pollen,” Eitches said. “I’ve had patients move from Culver City to ocean-side Pacific Palisades and have more problems.” Their new coastal neighborhoods were windier and had more tree and weed pollens.

Those with environmental allergies should avoid areas with a lot of diesel traffic, said Dr. Adrian Casillas, a UCLA assistant professor of medicine.

With his colleagues, Casillas has found that simultaneous exposure to diesel particulates and to ragweed allergen worsens the allergic response.

In a recent study, published last year in The Journal of Immunology, the UCLA team used ragweed as a model. But Casillas says the advice to avoid diesel pollutants probably holds for anyone with environmental allergies, such as allergies to trees, weeds or household pets.

House hunters with these allergies would do well to avoid neighborhoods with truck lines and many bus lines, Casillas said, as well as neighborhoods near airports.

Those sensitive to molds should generally avoid canyons, Geller said, because mold spores thrive in the dampness. “The narrower they are, the worse,” he said.

Those who react strongly to mold spores should also avoid living in houses with swamp coolers, Eitches said, because they, too, can be a breeding ground for mold.

Over their many years of practice, Eitches and Geller have also learned from their allergy-prone patients which areas of the Southland to avoid, based on the specific allergy.

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Those sensitive to olive trees should avoid Sherman Oaks, Studio City, West Hollywood and Griffith Park, where they’re common, Eitches says.

People with allergies to walnut trees are advised by Eitches to avoid the San Fernando Valley, where they are especially prevalent.

Those allergic to ash trees will have a harder time of it, he says, because they are scattered throughout the region. The flatlands tend to have more grass pollens, Eitches finds. Those who are extremely sensitive to outdoor pollens might do best in a city environment with more concrete than vegetation, he said.

“Newer is better than older,” said Eitches, who recommends that allergy-prone patients, if possible, look for houses less than 15 years old. Homes older than that may be more prone to mold and dust mites, he said, and may have windows that don’t seal well.

Those with asthma should avoid neighborhoods with high smog levels and look for homes with central air-conditioning and filtration units, Eitches recommends.

They should also avoid homes with heavy carpets, which tend to harbor dust mites, a frequent asthma trigger.

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Stuck in a Smog or Pollen Pocket? So you’re stuck in the smoggiest neighborhood--or the most vegetated--in Southern California with an affordable mortgage and no inkling that you’ll win the lottery?

Here are same ways to minimize the misery.

* Plan outdoor activities around the smog levels.

“Smog is not constant,” said Robert F. Phalen, professor of community and environmental medicine and director of the Air Pollution Health Effects Laboratory at UC Irvine. Levels are generally higher from about 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. when the sun is out and many cars are on the road.

* Pay attention to indoor air quality. Clean air filters regularly to eliminate microorganisms. Get rid of indoor plants with pollen or mold growth on them.

Consider buying a HEPA (high-efficiency particle air) filtering machine, suggests Dr. John W. Dalton, medical director of the respiratory therapy department at UCLA-Santa Monica Hospital Medical Center. They can help to reduce inside airborne allergens.

For information on HEPA filters and general information on allergy and asthma, contact the Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America, Southern California chapter, (800) 624-0044.

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Get an Analysis of Southland Air For a copy of the 1997 analysis of Southland air quality by monitoring stations, call the South Coast Air Quality Management District, (800) 288-7664, and ask for the 1997 data cards. The toll-free information line also offers brochures and other pollution information and registers complaints.

For details on various pollutants, hourly pollution updates and other information, visit the AQMD Web site, https://www.aqmd.gov.