Source: Health Policy Institute of Ohio
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, 2022).
The data was recently released 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.