Modern technology has made it possible to control air pollution "to the point where it is no longer a significant problem," the Los Angeles County air pollution control officer told participants in the American Medical Association Congress on Environmental Health Problems, May 1-2 in Chicago.
S. Smith Griswold said that use of all available techniques of reducing the pollutants in automobile exhausts, combined with a large-scale control program for industries, can make any city with a pollution problem more healthy and more comfortable for its residents.
"Ignorance and apathy are the real limitations upon the control of air pollution," Griswold said. "A community endures air pollution because it lacks leadership and the will to act."
He commented that the most frequent objection to air pollution control programs is the expense. "Spokesmen for industry have standard objections such as, 'Our industry can't afford such investments in nonproductive equipment,' or 'We won't