Study: Communities of color have much higher air pollution rates

A block-by-block analysis of air quality in the San Francisco Bay area found that communities of color are exposed to 55% more of a chemical that contributes to smog than mostly White communities (Source: “Block-by-block data shows pollution’s stark toll on people of color,” Washington Post, May 25).

The data released Tuesday by Aclima, a California-based tech company that measured the region’s air quality block-by-block for the first time. While the Environmental Protection Agency gauges an area’s air quality with fixed monitors, the new survey unearthed more granular data by sending low-emission vehicles equipped with sophisticated technology to traverse neighborhoods at least 20 times each.

These forays revealed that poor people of all ethnicities experience a 30% higher exposure to nitrogen dioxide compared to wealthier residents, and concentrations can vary up to 800% from one end of a block to the next.