Are non-whites at risk for more air pollution exposure?
The study found that EPA air quality monitors are disproportionately located in predominantly white neighborhoods, according to university researchers.
It went on to conclude that the federal agency's network consistently failed to capture air quality in communities of color across six major pollutants, particularly lead and sulfur dioxide, followed by ozone and carbon monoxide. As a result, air pollution data may misrepresent pollution concentrations, leaving marginalized groups at risk, it emphasized.
'It's the question behind the question. Researchers, policymakers, we all use air quality data, but whose air is it measuring?' said Brenna Kelly, doctoral student at the University of Utah and lead author of the study. 'Even though this data is of really high quality, that doesn't mean that it's high quality for everyone.'
'If there was a disparity for just one type of monitor, it could conceivably be accidental or just poor design,' added co-author Simon Brewer, associate professor of geography. 'The fact that it's a consistent pattern across all pollutants suggests that the decision-making process needs to be looked at carefully — these monitors are not being distributed equitably.'
The national study included nearly 3.3 million people and found that monitoring disparities exist for all criteria pollutants, particularly sulfur dioxide and lead, followed by ozone and carbon monoxide. Disparities were consistent across most racial and ethnic groups but were generally largest for those of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander race and American Indian or Alaska Native race.
Sampling bias could potentially lead to incorrect conclusions about the safety of air quality, the study said. Monitors measure a single point in space, meant to be a representative sample of a larger body of air.
Monitors that were active between March 2019 and March 2024 were included in the analysis, as well as census block groups for all U.S. states and the District of Columbia.
Researchers added that despite the robust body of literature describing inequities in air pollution exposure, inequity in air quality monitoring has not been a major research focus.
In Utah, the state Division of Air Quality does not monitor concentrations of pollutants on tribal lands because those data collection activities fall under the authority of the EPA, said Bryce Bird, division director.
Utah's Air Quality Monitoring Network currently operates monitors at 25 locations statewide. Two of the monitoring sites have been established to fulfill legislation requirements which directed the Department of Environmental Quality to establish and maintain monitoring facilities to measure the environmental impact from the Inland Port development project. Those locations are the Lake Park site and at the new prison north of I-80 off 7200 West.
'So, under the EPA requirements we are obligated to place the monitors based on the populations that are expected to see the highest levels of air pollution. And so we do air quality modeling to determine where those would be, and then we select sites that are representative, again, of the highest expected level of concentration that represents that population. Our current monitoring network is placed based on that,' Bird said.
Monitoring locations are designed to capture pollution exposure levels for a population of 50,000 people, he added.
'They aren't located targeting specific ethnicity, but they're targeting those areas where, because of the industry or the proximity to roadways, they would be expected to have the highest levels of air pollution.'
The state's network includes monitoring at Hawthorne Elementary in Salt Lake City, at DEQ's agency headquarters on North Temple near I-215, Rose Park and West Valley City. It also captures data in Woods Cross in Bountiful and monitors air pollution in the area of Copper View Elementary in Midvale.
'The areas that we are required to monitor are based on those federal requirements, and we do place them in the areas where we try to capture, again, where people are being impacted by air pollution,' Bird said.
The state's network also includes sites in Vernal, Roosevelt, Price, Erda in Tooele County and Smithfield in Cache County.
Utah's pollution regulators have been participating in the EPA-funded Urban Air Toxics Monitoring Program since 1999.
A report by the division said the sampling sites are strategically located. Some sites are selected to measure particulate matter concentrations in highly populated areas while others are selected to determine the extent of ozone transport from the Wasatch Front to the Uinta Basin.
Air pollution impacts the lungs and is linked to increased risk of heart attack or stroke, mental acuity in older populations, the very young and means more trips to the emergency room.
Utah has been battling air pollution on a number of fronts, including efforts to bring down fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, ozone, methane emissions and regional haze. Air pollution information for specific locations can be found at the division's website.
Kelly, the lead author of the study, said the study did not look at any specific locality but rather it probed national trends.
'Utah is not unlike other places that are rural,' Kelly said. 'We just simply don't understand air quality as well because these monitors aren't located near these people. And I mean, even in urban areas, the further you are from a monitor, the less certain you can be about your air quality.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
UPI
17 hours ago
- UPI
Novo Nordisk appoints new CEO Maziar Doustdar
Novo Nordisk announced that Mike Doustdar has been appointed as the new CEO on Tuesday. Photo by Ida MArie Odgaard/EPA-EFE July 29 (UPI) -- Novo Nordisk announced Tuesday that Mike Doustdar has been appointed as the company's new CEO. Doustdar steps into the role succeeding Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen, effective Aug. 7, 2025, which will also serve as Joregensens last day. "Mike is an exceptional leader and has the unanimous support of the board. We are confident that he is the best person to lead Novo Nordisk through its next growth phase. Mike has consistently demonstrated the ability to drive growth through strong commercial execution and building high-performing teams," Novo Nordisk Chair Helge Lund said in a press release. "This is an important moment for Novo Nordisk. The market is developing rapidly, and the company needs to address recent market challenges with speed and ambition. I believe Novo Nordisk will build on its strengths as a global leader in obesity and diabetes, and Mike has a clear vision of how to unlock the full potential of the opportunities ahead." "It's an enormous privilege to lead this company at a time of tremendous opportunity and change. I come to this role with a sense of urgency, a laser focus on high performance, and a fierce determination for Novo Nordisk to aim higher than it's ever done, and to deliver to many more patients the innovation they need," said Doutsdar. Novo Nordisk is also announcing its merging the company's Research & Early Development with its Development area into a consolidated R&D unit. The company has also recently ended its partnership with Hims & Hers over its sale and promotion of a cheaper version of Wegovy, a weight loss drug last month.
Vox
20 hours ago
- Vox
Is MAHA losing its battle to make Americans healthier?
covers health for Vox, guiding readers through the emerging opportunities and challenges in improving our health. He has reported on health policy for more than 10 years, writing for Governing magazine, Talking Points Memo, and STAT before joining Vox in 2017. On a Friday evening this July, the Trump administration announced it would lay off all of the health research scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency. Hundreds of investigators who try to understand how toxic pollution affects the human body would be gone. That wasn't a surprise. The EPA — which had a founding mission to protect 'the air we breathe and the water we drink,' as President Richard Nixon put it — has been busy dismantling policies that are in place to ensure environmental and public health. The New York Times reported earlier this month that the agency is drafting a plan that would repeal its recognition of climate change as a threat to human health, potentially limiting the government's ability to regulate greenhouse gases. EPA administrator Lee Zeldin has relaxed existing standards for mercury and lead pollution — two toxins that can lead to developmental problems in children. And the EPA has postponed its implementation of new Biden-era regulations that were supposed to reduce the amount of dangerous chemicals Americans are exposed to. Meanwhile, House Republicans are attempting to grant widespread liability relief to pesticide companies and restrict EPA regulation of PFAS 'forever chemicals' through provisions that have been tucked into the spending bills currently moving through Congress. (Democrats, for their part, have offered opposing legislation that would protect an individual's right to sue over any harm from pesticides.) This collective assault upon America's environmental regulations targets not just the environment, but human health as well. Which means it sits oddly with the work of another Trump official whose office at the Department of Health and Human Safety is just a 15-minute walk from EPA headquarters: Robert F. Kennedy Jr, whose Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement seeks to, obviously, make Americans healthier. But Kennedy hasn't spoken up about these contradictions — and his supporters are beginning to notice. In response to the pro-pesticide industry proposals in Congress, MAHA leaders wrote a letter to Kennedy and Zeldin voicing opposition to a bill that they believe 'would ensure that Americans have no power to prevent pesticide exposure, and no path to justice after harm occurs.' In the letter, they also urged the EPA to ban two pesticides — atrazine and glyphosate — that have been linked to birth defects and liver and kidney problems. What you'll learn from this story: The Make America Healthy Again movement depends on not only improving the US food supply but eliminating environmental pollution. President Donald Trump's EPA has taken actions to deregulate pesticides, microplastics, mercury and lead pollution, and more substances that the MAHA movement has identified as dangerous to human health. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is facing pressure from leaders in the MAHA movement to reconcile the gap between their shared goals and Trump's environmental agenda. 'These toxic substances are in our food, rain, air, and water, and most disturbingly, in our children's bodies,' the MAHA letter says. 'It is time to take a firm stand.' Kennedy is no stranger to these issues: Earlier this year, the Trump administration's Make America Healthy Again Commission report, which sought to document and explain the dramatic increase in chronic diseases like obesity among US children, identified both chemicals as health risks. Zeldin, however, has been working to deregulate both atrazine and glyphosate in his first few months leading the EPA. 'It is completely contrary to MAHA to relax regulations on PFAS and many different chemicals. We are calling upon them and to reverse some of these actions that [the administration] is taking or seemingly may allow,' said Zen Honeycutt, one of the letter signers and the founder of the MAHA-aligned group Moms Across America. 'We are extremely disappointed with some of the actions taken by this administration to protect the polluters and the pesticide companies.' MAHA burst onto the political scene as part of Kennedy's 2024 presidential campaign. It has become a vehicle for public health concerns, some exceedingly mainstream (like addressing America's ultra-processed food and reducing pollution) and some of them very much outside of it (such as undermining the effectiveness of vaccines). After dropping his own candidacy, Kennedy joined forces with Trump, and ended up running the nation's most important health agency. But now that he's in office, he and the movement he leads are running into the challenges of making change — and the unavoidable reality that MAHA has allied with a president and an agenda that is often in direct opposition to their own. 'In the case of Lee Zeldin, you have someone who's doing incredibly consequential actions and is indifferent to the impact on public health,' said Jeremy Symons, senior adviser to the Environmental Protection Network and a former adviser to the EPA during the Clinton administration. 'In the case of Kennedy, you have someone that has spent his life thinking about public health, but seems unable or disinterested in stopping what's going on.' RFK Jr.'s HHS vs. Zeldin's EPA Kennedy has successfully nabbed voluntary industry commitments to phase out certain dyes from American food products. He has overhauled the government's vaccine policy, and one state has already followed his lead in banning fluoride from its drinking water. But his ambitions to reduce the sheer number of toxins that leach into America's children in their most vulnerable years are being stymied by an EPA and a Republican-controlled Congress with very different priorities. 'Food dyes are not as consequential as pesticides for food manufacturers. The ingredients they put into the food contaminate the food,' Honeycutt said. 'That issue is a much larger issue. That is the farmers, and changing farming practices takes longer.' To Kennedy's credit, these are issues he'd apparently like to tackle — if he could. His HHS report earlier this year pointed out that 'studies have raised concerns about possible links between some of these products and adverse health outcomes, especially in children.' Specific ingredients in pesticides have been associated with cancer, inflammation, metabolic problems and more. But the EPA, meanwhile, has reversed regulations and stymied research for those same substances. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins hold ice cream cones while announcing a major industry pledge to ditch artificial dyes by 2027. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images The EPA has proposed easing restrictions on the amount of the herbicide atrazine that can be permitted in the nation's lakes and streams. Human and animal studies have associated exposure to atrazine with birth defects, kidney and liver diseases, and problems with metabolism; the evidence, however, remains limited and the MAHA report called for further independent research. The EPA has also moved to block states from putting any new limits on or requiring any public disclosures for glyphosate, a herbicide that the MAHA report says has been linked to a wide range of health problems. Zeldin also postponed Biden-era plans to take action on chlorpyrifos, a common insecticide increasingly associated with development problems in kids. The EPA has also been slow to move on microplastics and PFAS, both substances of growing concern among scientists and the general public. These invisible but omnipresent chemicals are a priority for the MAHA movement, singled out in the White House report for further study and policymaking. The EPA, though, has delayed implementing a new standard to limit PFAS in drinking water and announced it would consider whether to raise the limits of acceptable PFAS levels in community water systems, while also slashing funding for more research on the substance's health effects. Bisphenols (also known as BPA) and phthalates are two other common materials used in plastic production and food packaging, which have also been identified by researchers as likely dangerous because of their ability to disrupt hormone and reproductive function. The MAHA singles them out for further study and possible restrictions, but the EPA has delayed safety studies for both. The US is even moving backward on pollutants like mercury and lead, for which the scientific evidence of their harms is undisputed. They are toxins that regulators have actually taken steps over the decades to reduce exposure, through banning the use of lead paint, strictly limiting mercury levels, etc. Yet over the past few months, the EPA has moved to grant exemptions to coal power plants and chemical manufacturers that would allow more mercury pollution, while cutting monitoring for lead exposures. This is a long list of apparent contradictions and we're barely six months into Trump's term. How long can the contradictions pile up without Kennedy challenging Zeldin directly? We reached out to the Health and Human Services Department to see if we could get Kennedy's perspective on any of this. In response, an agency spokesperson sent a written statement: 'Secretary Kennedy and HHS are committed to investigating any potential root causes of the chronic disease epidemic, including environmental factors and toxic chemicals,' an HHS spokesperson wrote. 'The Secretary continues to engage with federal partners, including the EPA, to ensure that federal actions align with the latest gold standard science and the public health priorities identified in the MAHA report.' But as the EPA continues to roll back environmental protections despite the reassurances that the administration is aligned on MAHA, Kennedy's constituents are growing impatient. 'Our children's lives and futures are non-negotiables, and claims from the industry of 'safe' levels of exposure ignore the impacts of cumulative exposure and the reality of serious, evidence-backed risks,' the MAHA movement's recent letter says. 'The industry's call for delay or inaction is completely unacceptable — immediate and decisive action is needed now and is long overdue.' Why isn't RFK Jr. standing up to the EPA? The conflict between the two agencies' agendas has been striking: The EPA, under Zeldin, is allied with the industries it regulates and plans to deregulate as much as possible. HHS, on the other hand, is focused on its vision of making the environment safer in order to improve people's health — a goal that will inevitably require more regulations that require companies to restrict their use of certain compounds that prove to be dangerous to human health. Trump himself has said the two sides are going to have to work together and figure things out, Honeycutt noted — words that she is taking to heart for now. And the movement's leaders recognize that they are now in the business not of outside agitation but of working within the system to try to change it. 'We're not always going to be happy,' Honeycutt said. But Kennedy may be playing the weaker hand: Zeldin and his agency hold obvious advantages, and in a fight between HHS and EPA, EPA will likely win — unless, perhaps, Trump himself steps in. The biggest reason is a matter of authority: The EPA has the responsibility to regulate pollution, while Kennedy's HHS does not. The federal health agency can offer funding to state and local health departments to advance its policy goals, but it has effectively no regulatory authority when it comes to the dangerous substances identified in the MAHA report's section on chemical toxins. The EPA, on the other hand, has broad discretion to regulate the chemicals that industries pump into the American environment — or not. Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin speaks, as he tours a steel plant in South Carolina in May. Kevin Lamarque/AFP via Getty Images The difference between the leadership at the two agencies is also stark: Kennedy is a former lifelong Democrat who has never held a government position; Zeldin is a seasoned GOP operator who served four terms in the US House. Kennedy has brought in an assortment of unconventional personnel at HHS, many with skepticism about mainstream science and who are viewed dubiously by the industries they oversee. At the EPA, representatives of long-entrenched polluting interests have commandeered powerful positions: Nancy Beck, a former scientist at the American Chemistry Council, the chemical manufacturing industry's trade association, for example, is now holding the position overseeing chemical safety and pollution prevention. The perception within the industry, according to insiders who spoke with Vox, is that Kennedy is, well, a lightweight. 'From the perspective of the polluter takeover of EPA, Kennedy is largely seen as inconsequential and ineffective. He's playing wiffle ball,' Symons said. 'Kennedy talks a good game, but watch carefully what's happening at EPA and all the favors being given to corporate polluters that are going to do far more damage than anything.' 'The food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe are going to get more toxic and more dangerous because of what's happening in EPA,' Symons told Vox. When it comes to jockeying for influence, Zeldin also enjoys more powerful friends in the Republican Party. He has relationships with conservative politicians and advocacy groups across the nation. Almost all of the Republican state attorneys general, for example, are motivated to roll back environmental regulations because it's compatible with their priorities in their respective states. 'A lot of this is being driven by polluter states, red states with Republican attorneys general,' Symons said. And, as evidenced by the pesticide liability relief legislation in Congress that prompted MAHA's letter to Kennedy and Zeldin, Republicans in the House and Senate remain much more allied with corporate interests — an alliance that has stood for decades — than with the public health movement that has only recently been brought inside the broader Make America Great Again coalition. It is a bitter irony for a movement that has often called out corporate influence and corruption for the government's failures to protect public health. The White House's own MAHA report cites the influence of big businesses to explain why the chronic disease crisis has grown so dire; in particular, the report says, 'as a result of this influence, the regulatory environment surrounding the chemical industry may reflect a consideration of its interests.' MAHA's leaders aren't running for the hills yet; Honeycutt said she urges her members not to vilify Kennedy or Trump for failing to make progress on certain issues. But they sense they're losing control of the agenda on the environment, forcing difficult questions onto the movement just a few months after it attained serious power in Washington. 'As for MAHA organizations, they must decide whether they are to become appendages of the Republican party, or coalesce into an effective, independent political force,' Charles Eisenstein, a wellness author who was a senior adviser to Kennedy's presidential campaign, wrote for Children's Health Defense, a once-fringe group with ties to Kennedy. 'To do that, the movement must hold Republicans accountable for undermining public health with policies like liability shields. It must not sacrifice its core priorities to curry short-term favor with the Republican establishment.' The MAHA movement is made up of concerned parents and others focused on childen's health. Oliver Contreras/AFP via Getty Images The MAHA-MAGA political alliance is new and tenuous — many MAHA followers voted for President Barack Obama, Eisenstein points out — and it may not be permanent. And some fractures are already apparent: Honeycutt, the leader of Moms Across America and a signer of the MAHA movement's letter to Kennedy, told Vox that her own members have told her directly that they are considering voting for Democrats in the next election. Even as she urges MAHA to keep the faith, Honeycutt said that Republicans risk alienating this enthusiastic part of their coalition by going hog wild on environmental deregulation. Her group is in the process of pulling together a legislative scorecard to hold lawmakers to account. 'There could be dire consequences for the midterm elections, if they don't realize,' she said. 'We don't care if you're a Republican or Democrat. We will support whoever supports us.' Vox climate correspondent Umair Irfan contributed reporting to this story.
a day ago
Summer nights are getting warmer due to climate change, sparking health concerns
When you typically think about extreme heat, a sweltering, sunny day may come first to mind. But climate scientists are also sounding the alarm on warm summer nights, saying they are quietly becoming a worrisome consequence of climate change -- and a serious public health concern. When nighttime temperatures don't drop low enough relative to peak daytime heat, it is harder for people to cool off, according to Climate Central, a nonprofit organization that analyzes and reports on climate science. Extreme heat is the leading weather-related killer in the United States, with heat waves responsible for more deaths than other extreme weather events like tornadoes, flooding, or hurricanes, according to the National Weather Service. This week, more than 200 million people across the U.S. from South Dakota to Florida and up the East Coast to Boston, are on alert for widespread, dangerous heat. Extreme heat warnings have been issued for large cities from Iowa to Florida, including New Orleans, Memphis, St. Louis, Omaha, Des Moines, Savannah, Raleigh, Charleston and Sioux Falls. In these areas, feels-like temperatures are forecast to soar into the triple digits during the afternoon hours, with the dangers remaining even after the sun sets. A dangerous temperature trend From 1970 to 2024, Climate Central analyzed average summer nighttime temperatures in 241 locations across the U.S. The organization found that these temperatures have warmed in nearly all locations, increasing by 3.1 degrees Fahrenheit on average. Looking to the future, warm summer nights are expected to become increasingly frequent in the coming decades, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In many regions across the country, the EPA reports nighttime temperatures are projected to remain above 70 degrees Fahrenheit more often. Health risks The most serious health impacts of a heat wave are often associated with warm overnight temperatures, the EPA warns. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) echoes these warnings, saying if the air stays too warm at night, the body faces extra strain trying to regulate body temperature. Without this crucial drop in temperature, vulnerable populations -- including elderly people, children, and those with pre-existing conditions -- face heightened health risks, according to the agency. MORE: Heat stroke vs. heat exhaustion: Safety tips as dangerous temperatures hit US Prolonged exposure to high heat in the evenings has been linked to poorer sleep quality, which can impair immune function, exacerbate mental health issues, and increase the risk of chronic conditions such as heart disease, according to the CDC. While extreme heat and triple-digit temperatures frequently are the focus of attention and grab headlines, the lack of adequate overnight cooling is also a serious concern that amplifies the impacts of heat. Overnight cooling is essential for not just the human body, but infrastructure and ecosystems to recover after a hot day. Cities feel heightened temperatures Warmer overnight temperatures are also fueled by urban development. Cities with heat-retaining concrete and asphalt are particularly vulnerable to higher temperatures when vegetation is lost to more paved surfaces and buildings, according to the EPA. Compared with surrounding rural areas, urban locations have higher overall temperatures, especially at night. This is known as the "urban heat island" effect. Rising concentrations of greenhouse gases and increased atmospheric moisture are major contributors to the ongoing rise in nighttime temperatures seen in recent decades. As the atmosphere warms, it can hold more water vapor, which functions like an insulating layer, trapping heat and significantly limiting the amount of cooling that can occur at night, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
