U. study finds air pollutant monitors more common in white neighborhoods

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

A new University of Utah study finds racial disparities in placement of EPA air monitors across the country.
Broadly, white neighborhoods have more monitors, particularly compared to Native American and Pacific Island populations.
The study warns the disparity could compound "known environmental injustices" and recommends further investigation.

SALT LAKE CITY — A University of Utah study shows air monitors are more prevalent in areas where white, non-Hispanic people live and less so in neighborhoods where people of color live.

The largest disparities impact Native American and Pacific Island populations, among others, which are served by fewer monitors.

The team of U. investigators looked at the placement of 7,771 Environmental Protection Agency monitors around the United States in combination with the racial and ethnic makeup of the areas where they are located, tapping U.S. Census Bureau demographic data. The monitors variously test for six pollutants — lead, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and particulate matter. The study found disparities in the positioning of all types of testing systems.

"If there was a disparity for just one type of monitor, it could conceivably be accidental or just poor design," study co-author Simon Brewer, associate professor of geography at the U., said in a university report last week on the study. "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 study, released in December, doesn't draw any definitive conclusions about the impact of the disparity in monitor placement but offers a cautionary message, saying the issue merits more attention.

"These findings suggest regulatory monitor data may not adequately capture air quality exposures for some marginalized race and ethnicity groups, and the consequences of incomplete or uncertain air quality estimates for these communities should be further investigated," the study reads. It further warns that "monitoring disparities could result in misclassification of exposures, potentially compounding known environmental injustices."

Relative to the white, non-Hispanic population, areas where other racial and ethnic groups were concentrated had fewer nitrogen dioxide, ozone, lead and particulate matter monitors. "Disparities were consistently largest for Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander populations, followed by American Indian and Alaska Native populations and those of two or more races," the study reads.

The study singled out relatively high population concentrations of Native Hawaiian people and other Pacific Islanders in Hawaii, Utah, Washington and California. "Within these states, monitor coverage may be relatively poor for this population. Rurality may also reduce monitor coverage for American Indian or Alaska Native populations, but the disparity existed after accounting for population size," reads the study.

Disparities were most pronounced in monitoring of sulfur dioxide and lead followed by ozone and carbon monoxide. Areas with higher concentrations of Asian people typically had slightly more sulfur dioxide monitors.

The study offered no theory linking neighborhood demographics and monitor placement. "This work is cross-sectional in nature, and so causal statements about the effect of demographic composition on number of monitors cannot be made," the study says.

At any rate, the Natural Resources Defense Council, among others, maintains that racial and ethnic minorities are subject to "environmental racism." Numerous studies, the group says, show "that those communities are disproportionately exposed to fumes, toxic dust, ash, soot and other pollutants from such hazardous facilities located in their midst. As a result, they face increased risks of health problems like cancer and respiratory issues," reads a 2023 report on the group's website.

A U. study last year found people of color potentially face increased exposure to fine dust blown from the drying bed of the Great Salt Lake compared to white people, putting them at higher risk of experiencing the ill effects of flying particulate matter. The Pacific Islander community, in particular, was at risk of heightened exposure, according to the study.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.