On a tree-lined street in a quiet suburb known by some as \u201cArbor City\u201d, Eileen Miranda often watched her grandson race around the yard, trusting \u2013 like most \u2013 that the air they were breathing was clean. But data from an air quality sensor she recently installed outside her home showed otherwise. Now she wonders if it was the air that contributed to her eldest son\u2019s childhood struggle with asthma.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt overwhelmed me,\u201d Miranda said. \u201cI thought the numbers would be low. This community is nice, but lo and behold\u201d<\/p>\n
Eileen Miranda outside her home in La Mirada, California<\/a>, in March. She is among many Latinos in the US who have installed monitors to stay informed about their neighborhoods\u2019 air quality.<\/p>\n At 66, the grandmother of eight, who lives in La Mirada, a suburb south-east of Los Angeles<\/a>, began noticing in her everyday life the cars idling on congested streets and the dizzying pace of heavy-duty diesel trucks coming in and out of an industrial hub a mile from her home.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are the things that got me thinking this cannot be good for the air,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Eileen is one of a growing number of Latinos across the US who, motivated by rising pollution concerns, have installed air quality sensors outside their homes, businesses and churches to better understand the air they\u2019re breathing and advocate for change in their communities.<\/p>\n The grassroots monitoring comes as Donald Trump\u2019s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) moves to scrap almost all pollution regulations<\/a> by rescinding a key 16-year-old legal finding, alongside a barrage<\/a> of other rollbacks of life-saving rules.<\/p>\n Although more than half of the US population resides in areas with unhealthy air quality, communities of color are disproportionately affected, comprising 50% of those breathing in toxic air pollutants, despite representing just 41% of the US population, according to a recent analysis by the American Lung Association. Latinos are nearly three times more likely than white individuals to live in communities with poor air quality.<\/p>\n Traffic in Commerce, California.<\/a>Aerial image of homes near the 710 Freeway and a major rail yard that transports international goods to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in Commerce, California.<\/p>\n Although agencies such as the EPA collect air quality data, researchers note that this information may not present the complete picture since some sensors are primarily located in wealthier, predominantly white neighborhoods. Meanwhile, companies can bypass air quality rules by using data from monitors located farther from pollution sources, where the air is cleaner, or by not collecting data at all, as a recent Guardian analysis found<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sensors in specific neighborhoods can help people better understand the air quality where they live, while also helping to fill data gaps. This local data can then be published for the public and shared with government agencies to inform where regulations and enforcement are needed.<\/p>\n In Miranda\u2019s case, the air quality sensor is provided by the Hispanic Access Foundation, a national non-profit organization. Through a three-year grant funded by the Biden administration, the group aims to engage communities most affected by measuring air pollution in 12 areas with significant Latino populations.<\/p>\n The locations have some of the highest air pollution rates in the US, and all but one have asthma rates higher than the national average among adults.<\/p>\n Using PurpleAir monitors<\/a>, everyday citizens and community leaders, known as \u201csite managers\u201d, gather data and track levels of harmful air pollutants, especially the type scientists call PM2.5 \u2013 particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers.<\/p>\n While not visible on its own, PM2.5 in large amounts \u2013 such as from car exhausts, coal-fired power plants and other industrial sources \u2013 can cause serious health problems for humans. Particulate matter has been linked to respiratory diseases such as asthma as well as neurological disorders, cardiovascular disease and other health issues.<\/p>\n A 2021 study<\/a> found people of color faced higher exposure to PM2.5 pollution regardless of region or location. The study\u2019s authors note that because of a legacy of housing policy and other factors, racial-ethnic exposure disparities continue to persist even with a decrease in the overall exposure.<\/p>\n PM2.5 levels are also worsened by heatwaves and wildfires, both of which are becoming more intense and widespread due to human-made global heating.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen it comes to climate, everything is really interconnected. The wildfire smoke we\u2019re seeing in California, we\u2019re seeing that in other parts of the world,\u201d said Hilda Berganza, the Hispanic Access Foundation\u2019s climate manager, overseeing the project<\/a> called El Aire Que Respiramos (The Air We Breathe).<\/p>\n In southern Idaho<\/a>, Cecy Ruano, 50, and her family host one of the 12 air monitors in Caldwell, a small city surrounded by acres of farmland that is 38% Latino.<\/p>\n In 1989, many laborers migrated to Caldwell in search of employment in the agricultural industry. Likewise, Ruano migrated as a young child with her parents, harvesting and packing beets and onions in the fields, and she eventually stayed to raise a family of her own. Driven by her faith and family, she actively works to educate others and nurture a caring relationship with the environment.<\/p>\n \u201cMy mother suffers from asthma, and my great-grandmother also had breathing problems, so for me it\u2019s very important, and not just for my mom but for the people in my church,\u201d Ruano said. \u201cI\u2019ve got to take care of them; I need to make sure they\u2019re OK.\u201d<\/p>\n Located in a valley with Oregon to the west and Boise to the east, Caldwell faces wildfire winds from both directions from May to October. Worsening drought conditions across Idaho, along with extreme heat, are increasing wildfire risks in the area and lengthening the wildfire season.<\/p>\n Ruano\u2019s mother, Maria A Espinoza, 66, her voice soft and raspy, gets winded easily and tries to stay indoors during those months.<\/p>\n Maria A Espinoza, who suffers from asthma, takes a puff from her inhaler at her daughter\u2019s home in Caldwell, Idaho.<\/p>\n Just eight miles south of Caldwell, at the Deer Flat national wildlife refuge, Cecy\u2019s daughter Aimee Benitez and her husband, Bryan Benitez, both 29, informed residents in English and Spanish about the latest air quality data from their Caldwell sensor and how they can reduce exposure when the air quality is poor.<\/p>\n The project aims to compare three years of data with EPA data, enabling the sharing of this information with local officials and giving them a fuller picture of potential exposures.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just the start of what we can do,\u201d said Benitez.<\/p>\n Bryan Benitez, 29, leads an information session on PM2.5 and who\u2019s at risk and how to limit exposure.<\/p>\n Down the road from Eileen in Commerce, California, a line of freight trucks idles as they prepare to enter the freeway next to Iglesia Bautista La Resurrecci\u00f3n, where Pastor William Carcamo, 69, had an air quality sensor installed through the Hispanic Access Foundation as part of his commitment to serving the community.<\/p>\n \u201cWe Hispanic people worry about paying the rent, paying off the car and having money to sustain ourselves. But I tell my congregants, what\u2019s the point of having a nice car if our air is polluted?\u201d Carcamo said in Spanish.<\/p>\n The city of Commerce faces significant air quality challenges due to its location between the 710 freeway and a major rail yard that transports international goods to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.<\/p>\n California is widely known for some of the worst air pollution<\/a> in the country, yet significant challenges persist when it comes to implementing and enforcing regulations.<\/p>\n In January, California rolled back a law aimed at curbing air pollution by requiring trucks to run cleaner by 2035. The law would have phased out diesel trucks at the ports of LA and Long Beach to a hydrogen and electric future. The rule was withdrawn from EPA approval just ahead of the return to office of Trump, who had previously threatened to revoke California\u2019s clean air standards.<\/p>\n A video loop of a busy highway through a residential neighborhood.<\/a>Cars and trucks prepare to enter the freeway next to Iglesia Bautista La Resurrecci\u00f3n in Commerce, California.<\/p>\n Since taking office, Trump has issued multiple executive orders rescinding previous efforts by previous administrations to tackle environmental injustice. So far, the EPA has cut more than 600 grants aimed at addressing the climate crisis <\/a>and environmental justice because of what it considers unnecessary spending. These rollbacks come in response to the rapid growth of community data-collection projects over the last several years.<\/p>\n Democrats are accusing the EPA of illegally canceling billions of dollars in congressionally appropriated funds.<\/p>\n When asked whether current EPA monitoring networks adequately reflect air quality realities in communities of color, the agency clarified that although it provides technical and financial support, most monitoring stations are operated by state, local and tribal air agencies. It stated that the largest networks, which measure PM2.5 and ozone, are typically located in urban and rural areas chosen to represent broader regions or neighborhood-scale zones. The EPA did not address whether support would be renewed for expiring grants related to air quality monitoring.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Trump EPA is committed to enhancing our ability to deliver clean air, water, and land for ALL Americans regardless of race, gender, creed, and background,\u201d the agency said.<\/p>\n The Hispanic Access Foundation was among 127 projects in 37 states that received grants from the EPA under the Biden administration in 2022 to monitor air quality in communities with environmental and health disparities stemming from pollution and the Covid-19 pandemic. Its grant remains in place through September 2026.<\/p>\n Industrial facilities foul nearby neighborhoods<\/p>\n In the historically Latino and working-class neighborhoods of Barrio Logan and Logan Heights in San Diego, California, industrial development near homes has led to increased health risks for residents and fueled decades of activism for cleaner air.<\/p>\n The neighborhoods face disproportionately high levels of air pollution that come from nearby industrial facilities, a naval base, a freeway and marine terminal operations, which have also limited access to the waterfront. The contrast is stark when compared with the wealthy community across the Coronado Bridge, where residential areas are kept separate from industry.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t need to live here to help us advocate, just caring is enough. It\u2019s not right to have these negative statistics.\u201d said Maritza Garcia, 33, a second-generation resident whose mom has breathing issues and led her to get involved with Environmental Health<\/a> Coalition, a non-profit that has been working to reduce pollution and improve health since the 1980s.<\/p>\n While they\u2019ve seen some success, such as advocating for a policy with the port of San Diego that would require a transition from diesel trucks to electric trucks by 2030, they still face uncertainty about what these policies will truly deliver and how effectively they will be enforced.<\/p>\n Recently, the Environmental Health Coalition faced a funding setback to its clean air project when one of its grants was cut by the EPA in May. While the remaining funds will allow it to continue its work for now, the organization is now seeking alternative sources of support to sustain its efforts.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not a position against industry,\u201d said Jos\u00e9 Franco Garc\u00eda, executive director of the Environmental Health Coalition, \u201cIt really gets frustrating to hear the way environmental justice is being attacked as if it were a luxury or something that people are trying to take advantage of for funding, when in reality, it\u2019s people who have been taken advantage of for years and have been suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n Jos\u00e9 Franco Garc\u00eda, executive director of the Environmental Health Coalition, whose grant to study air pollution was cut by the EPA in May.<\/p>\n At a South Bronx Unite<\/a> (SBU) community meeting in May, about 20 residents packed into a small room in the Bronx, while others joined online to discuss data from 65 air monitors tracking particle pollution across the borough.<\/p>\n Much of that pollution comes from heavy truck traffic, industrial sites such as waste transfer stations, and local power plants. The Bronx is 55% Latino and 29% Black and has some of the highest rates of asthma in the country.<\/p>\n One of those 65 sensors is mounted on the concrete facade of the building where Grace Gonzalez, 56, lives. A lifelong Bronx resident, she lives less than half a mile from the Bruckner Expressway, a major truck route, and just a mile from the industrial waterfront.<\/p>\n Grace has lived in the building for 56 years and has asthma that has worsened with age, now limiting her ability to go on walks and jog like she used to.<\/p>\n \u201cI try to live a normal life as much as I can,\u201d she said. Every day, she climbs the five flights of stairs, taking breaks in between, to get to her apartment. For the past three years, she\u2019s been having to use a nebulizer when her asthma flares up. \u201cI call her nebu,\u201d Grace chuckled.<\/p>\n Grace Gonzalez, a Bronx native who suffers from asthma, is concerned about air pollution exposure and health risks in her neighborhood, which led her to install an air quality sensor outside her home.<\/p>\n She remains in good spirits and has become known in her building as a sort of messenger, making an effort to share information about air quality and updates from the SBU meetings with her neighbors and family.<\/p>\n Her daughter Gracie, 35, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021, despite having no family history of the disease. Grace\u2019s asthma, her daughter\u2019s diagnosis and those of five other women in the building led the mother and daughter to question the air they were breathing \u2013 and what it might be doing to their health.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not going to be a statistic on a paper,\u201d said Gracie, a patient care navigator at a care management agency. She trusted her instincts, advocated for herself and pushed for answers until she received a diagnosis. Gracie underwent chemotherapy and radiation, and now stays on top with regular follow-ups.<\/p>\n Although it remains unclear whether air pollution is directly linked to breast cancer, research<\/a> in this field is expanding.<\/p>\n With two younger daughters, Gracie hopes more can be done to improve quality of life for Bronx residents. She loves her neighborhood and doesn\u2019t want to leave. \u201cWe\u2019re kind of the overlooked borough,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Gracie, 35, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021 despite having no family history of the disease. She worries about her the future health of her family and believes more can be done to improve quality of life for Bronx residents.<\/p>\n