Pollution in Georgia

While rooting around in Georgia data I came across a county-by-county list of particulate matter, which the EPA describes as "an air pollution term for a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air."

Wow, you're thinking. Hollander needs a hobby. Yeah, maybe, but still I wondered how the counties ranked. These small differences in Georgia have as the "worst:"

1. (tie) Dawson, Lumpkin, and Union counties
4. (tie) Fannin, Forsyth, Hall, Gilmer, Towns, White, Murray, Pickens, Catoosa, and Gwinnett counties.

Okay, you get the point. Those in #1 had an average daily score of 13.5, those tied for #4 had an average of 13.4. It kinda goes like that, down .1 at a time, to the cleanest air counties of Grady and Thomas (12.0).

By the way, Clarke County (Athens) ranks 35th worst. Next door, Oconee is 37th. I was surprised to see Fulton County (heart of Atlanta) only 29th worst. Then again, these ranges are so minor as to be unimportant. And yet here I am, writing about them. You can see more about Athens on a site here, which lists Athens as a "pass" and Atlanta as a "fail."