Watch: How Traffic Pollution Drives Health Disparities in West Oakland, California

Communities of color are disproportionately burdened by air pollution’s health impacts. Working with the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, EDF’s research is helping shed light on the connection between air pollution from diesel trucks and the impacts on local residents’ health. Case in point: research shows that Bay Area neighborhoods with higher percentages of people of color experience, on average, double the rate of pollution-related childhood asthma compared to predominantly white neighborhoods.

The video was produced by EDF and our partner, the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project. Read more about the Health Impact Assessment from West Oakland here.

Click here to interact with the West Oakland map.

Study of pollution health impacts on West Oakland, California residents

EDF partnered with Kaiser Permanente to combine data from our original study with the electronic health records of 41,000 people in Oakland to better understand just how much place matters in driving health disparities.

  • Houston Case Study
    Houston Case Study

    The Houston Study

    Nearly half of Houston’s schools face elevated pollution

    Our researchers found nitrogen dioxide (NO2) above the typical citywide levels outside nearly half (46%) of the schools and childcare centers in the areas we monitored. This kind of exposure to nitrogen oxides among children (NO and NO2) can result in the development and exacerbations of asthma and bronchitis.

    See Case Study
  • Health Impacts of Air Pollution

    Children, the elderly, and people with existing diseases are even more vulnerable and susceptible to harm from breathing unhealthy air. And low-income communities and communities of color often experience higher exposure to air pollution and bear a greater burden of the health and economic impacts.

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  • Finding Pollution Sources

    Analysts use a variety of methods, depending on budget, capacity and existing data sources–to pinpoint the sources of pollution. For example, so-called source-based approaches start at the point from where air pollution is flowing and follow emissions as they mix, react, disperse and move through the atmosphere.

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    Girl on playground near power plant