Developing Youth Environmental Health Literacy and Civic Leadership through Community Air Monitoring in Imperial County, California

With a rapidly changing climate, new leaders must be trained to understand and act on emerging environmental threats. In California’s Imperial Valley, a collaborative of community members, researchers, and scientists developed a community air monitoring network to provide local residents with better air quality information. To expand the reach of the project and to prepare the next generation of youth leaders we developed an internship program to increase environmental health literacy and civic leadership. In the 10-week program, high school students learned about air quality science, respiratory health, community air monitoring, and policies intended to improve air quality. The students learned to present this information to their peers, neighbors, family, and community leaders. The program used participatory approaches familiar to community-engaged research to center the students’ experience. Surveys and interviews with the students were used to assess the program and found that the students became more familiar with air quality policies, increased their ability to use air monitoring resources, and increased their own confidence in their ability to effect change. With the growing threats related to environmental hazards, it is vital to prepare youth leaders to understand, communicate, and act.

Assessment of Ambient Air Toxics and Wood Smoke Pollution among Communities in Sacramento County

Ambient air monitoring and phone survey data were collected in three environmental justice (EJ) and three non-EJ communities in Sacramento County during winter 2016–2017 to understand the differences in air toxics and in wood smoke pollution among communities. Concentrations of six hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) and black carbon (BC) from fossil fuel (BC_ff) were significantly higher at EJ communities versus non-EJ communities. BC from wood burning (BC_wb) was significantly higher at non-EJ communities. Correlation analysis indicated that the six HAPs were predominantly from fossil fuel combustion sources, not from wood burning. The HAPs were moderately variable across sites (coefficient of divergence (COD) range of 0.07 for carbon tetrachloride to 0.28 for m- and p-xylenes), while BC_ff and BC_wb were highly variable (COD values of 0.46 and 0.50). The BC_wb was well correlated with levoglucosan (R² of 0.68 to 0.95), indicating that BC_wb was a robust indicator for wood burning. At the two permanent monitoring sites, wood burning comprised 29–39% of the fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) on nights when PM_2.5 concentrations were forecasted to be high. Phone survey data were consistent with study measurements; the only significant difference in the survey results among communities were that non-EJ residents burn with indoor devices more often than EJ residents.

Combining Community Engagement and Scientific Approaches in Next-Generation Monitor Siting: The Case of the Imperial County Community Air Network

Air pollution continues to be a global public health threat, and the expanding availability of small, low-cost air sensors has led to increased interest in both personal and crowd-sourced air monitoring. However, to date, few low-cost air monitoring networks have been developed with the scientific rigor or continuity needed to conduct public health surveillance and inform policy. In Imperial County, California, near the U.S./Mexico border, we used a collaborative, community-engaged process to develop a community air monitoring network that attains the scientific rigor required for research, while also achieving community priorities. By engaging community residents in the project design, monitor siting processes, data dissemination, and other key activities, the resulting air monitoring network data are relevant, trusted, understandable, and used by community residents. Integration of spatial analysis and air monitoring best practices into the network development process ensures that the data are reliable and appropriate for use in research activities. This combined approach results in a community air monitoring network that is better able to inform community residents, support research activities, guide public policy, and improve public health. Here we detail the monitor siting process and outline the advantages and challenges of this approach.