Assessment of Particulate Matter Levels in Vulnerable Communities in North Charleston, South Carolina prior to Port Expansion

Air pollution exposure assessment at schools and playgrounds in Williamsburg Brooklyn NYC, with a view to developing a set of policy solutions

Community science offers unique opportunities for non-professional involvement of volunteers in the scientific process, not just during the data acquisition, but also in other phases, like problem definition, quality assurance, data analysis and interpretation, and the dissemination of results. Moreover, community science can be a powerful tool for public engagement and empowerment during policy formulation. This paper aims to present a pilot study on personal exposure to fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) and raises awareness of the hazards of air pollution. As part of data acquisition conducted in 2019, high school students gathered data at their schools, schoolyards, and playgrounds using low-cost monitors AirBeam2. The data was automatically uploaded every second onto the AirCasting mobile app. Besides, a stationary network of air monitors (fixed stations) was deployed in the neighborhood to collect real-time ambient air concentrations of PM_2.5. Students involved in the project attended workshops, training sessions, and researched to better understand air pollution, as part of their science class curriculum and portfolio. This air quality monitoring was incorporated into the "Our Air/Nuestro Aire" - El Puente grassroots campaign. The main goals of this campaign included sharing the data collected with the community, engaging academic partners to develop a set of policy and urban design solutions, and to be considered into a 5-point policy platform.

Community-based participatory research for the study of air pollution: a review of motivations, approaches, and outcomes

Neighborhood level air pollution represents a long-standing issue for many communities that, until recently, has been difficult to address due to the cost of equipment and lack of related expertise. Changes in available technology and subsequent increases in community-based participatory research (CBPR) have drastically improved the ability to address this issue. However, much still needs to be learned as these types of studies are expected to increase in the future. To assist, we review the literature in an effort to improve understanding of the motivations, approaches, and outcomes of air monitoring studies that incorporate CBPR and citizen science (CS) principles. We found that the primary motivations for conducting community-based air monitoring were concerns for air pollution health risks, residing near potential pollution sources, urban sprawl, living in "unmonitored" areas, and a general quest for improved air quality knowledge. Studies were mainly conducted using community led partnerships. Fixed site monitoring was primarily used, while mobile, personal, school-based, and occupational sampling approaches were less frequent. Low-cost sensors can enable thorough neighborhood level characterization; however, keeping the community involved at every step, understanding the limitations and benefits of this type of monitoring, recognizing potential areas of debate, and addressing study challenges are vital for achieving harmony between expected and observed study outcomes. Future directions include assessing currently unregulated pollutants, establishing long-term neighborhood monitoring sites, performing saturation studies, evaluating interventions, and creating CS databases.

Baseline Air Quality Assessment of Goods Movement Activities before the Port of Charleston Expansion: A Community-University Collaborative

As the demand for goods continues to increase, a collective network of transportation systems is required to facilitate goods movement activities. This study examines air quality near the Port of Charleston before its expansion and briefly describes the establishment and structure of a community-university partnership used to monitor existing pollution. Particulate matter (PM) concentrations (PM_2.5 and PM₁₀) were measured using the Thermo Fisher Scientific Partisol 2000i-D Dichotomous Air Sampler, Thermo Scientific Dichotomous Sequential Air Sampler Partisol-Plus 2025-D, and Rupprecht & Patashnick TEOM Series 1400 Sampler at neighborhood (Union Heights, Rosemont, and Accabee) and reference (FAA_2.5 and Jenkins Street) sites. Descriptive statistics were performed and an ANOVA (analysis of variance) was calculated to find the difference in overall mean 24-hour PM average concentrations in communities impacted by environmental injustice. PM_2.5 (15.2 μg/m³) and PM₁₀ (27.2 μg/m³) maximum concentrations were highest in neighborhoods such as Union Heights neighborhoods due to more goods movement activities. Nevertheless, there was no statistically significant difference in mean concentrations of PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ across neighborhood sites. In contrast, mean PM₁₀ neighborhood concentrations were significantly lower than mean PM₁₀ reference concentrations for Union Heights (p = 0.00), Accabee (p ≤ 0.0001), and Rosemont (p = 0.01). Although PM concentrations were lower than current National Ambient Air Quality Standards, this study demonstrated how community-university partners can work collectively to document baseline PM concentrations that will be used to examine changes in air quality after the port expansion brings additional goods movement activities to the area.

Assessment of sociodemographic and geographic disparities in cancer risk from air toxics in South Carolina

Populations of color and low-income communities are often disproportionately burdened by exposures to various environmental contaminants, including air pollution. Some air pollutants have carcinogenic properties that are particularly problematic in South Carolina (SC), a state that consistently has high rates of cancer mortality for all sites. The purpose of this study was to assess cancer risk disparities in SC by linking risk estimates from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 2005 National Air Toxics Assessment (NATA) with sociodemographic data from the 2000 US Census Bureau. Specifically, NATA risk data for varying risk categories were linked by tract ID and analyzed with sociodemographic variables from the 2000 census using R. The average change in cancer risk from all sources by sociodemographic variable was quantified using multiple linear regression models. Spatial methods were further employed using ArcGIS 10 to assess the distribution of all source risk and percent non-white at each census tract level. The relative risk (RR) estimates of the proportion of high cancer risk tracts (defined as the top 10% of cancer risk in SC) and their respective 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated between the first and latter three quartiles defined by sociodemographic factors, while the variance in the percentage of high cancer risk between quartile groups was tested using Pearson's chi-square. The average total cancer risk for SC was 26.8 people/million (ppl/million). The risk from on-road sources was approximately 5.8 ppl/million, higher than the risk from major, area, and non-road sources (1.8, 2.6, and 1.3 ppl/million), respectively. Based on our findings, addressing on-road sources may decrease the disproportionate cancer risk burden among low-income populations and communities of color in SC.

A critical review of an authentic and transformative environmental justice and health community--university partnership

Distressed neighborhoods in North Charleston (SC, USA) are impacted by the cumulative effects of multiple environmental hazards and expansion of the Port of Charleston. The Low Country Alliance for Model Communities (LAMC) built an environmental justice partnership to address local concerns. This case study examines the process of building and sustaining a successful transformative and authentic community-university partnership. We apply the framework established by Community-Campus Partnerships for Health (CCPH), focusing on four of the nine principles of Good Practice of Community Campus Partnerships.