The survey of 986 likely voters, conducted earlier this month, found Becerra leading with 23% support, followed by Hilton at 20%. Democrat Tom Steyer was at 15%, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco at 13% and former Rep. Katie Porter at 12%.

The numbers are especially significant in California’s top-two primary system, where the two candidates with the most votes advance to the November election regardless of party. For months, the crowded Democratic field raised the possibility that two Republicans — Hilton and Bianco — could finish first and second, shutting Democrats out of the general election.

Becerra, a former California attorney general who later served as health secretary under President Joe Biden, has gained ground since U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell left the race amid allegations of sexual misconduct.

Jonathan Underland, a spokesperson for Becerra’s campaign, said the poll reflects growing support for the former Biden administration official.

“Becerra has built real momentum — strong poll numbers backed by working Californians who are energized and ready,” Underland said.

Steyer’s campaign disputed the PPIC survey’s findings in a written statement, arguing that the poll failed to capture recent gains for the liberal billionaire. The campaign pointed to its own internal tracking and to another poll conducted for Hilton.

The PPIC poll also offered a broader look at California voters’ mood ahead of the midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress during the final two years of President Donald Trump’s second term.

Three-quarters of likely voters said the country is moving in the wrong direction, the highest share recorded by PPIC in more than 20 years. While 92% of Democrats expressed that view, so did 50% of Republicans. The share of Republicans who said the country is headed in the right direction dropped from 64% in a February PPIC poll to 49% in the latest survey.

The poll also showed a strong advantage for Democrats in congressional races. If the midterm election were held today, 64% of likely voters said they would support the Democratic candidate in their local U.S. House race, compared with 35% who said they would vote for the Republican candidate. Those findings could signal trouble for Republicans as they try to keep control of the House of Representatives.

Younger voters are another group drawing attention in the election. Californians under 29 make up nearly one-fifth of the state’s eligible voters, and many cite concerns about inflation, health care and housing as they weigh their choices.

In a separate election-related development, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law Wednesday barring local police from seizing ballots from election officials.

The law was rushed through the Legislature after Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, who is running for governor, seized more than 600,000 ballots from the county registrar of voters earlier this year. Bianco said the action was part of a “fact-finding mission” into election accuracy, though he did not present evidence that the ballots had been improperly cast.

The new law took effect immediately, ahead of the June 2 primary. It prevents county registrars from turning over ballots or voting equipment to law enforcement and reaffirms that the attorney general, secretary of state or county election officials can sue any person, business or entity that takes ballots from an election official’s custody.

“We have to step up, and we have to draw the line,” Newsom told reporters. “We have to clarify the rules of engagement. It’s a warning to the folks out there that think they can do the bidding of the Trump administration.”

California lawmakers also are considering a proposal aimed at helping young people affected by gun violence, including in San Bernardino County.

The bill would create a pilot program offering free mental health and counseling services to young people who were shot, witnessed a shooting or lost a family member to gun violence. The program would serve youth in Alameda, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Solano counties.

Nicole Kravitz-Wirtz, an associate professor with the Centers for Violence Prevention at UC Davis, said young shooting survivors often receive treatment for physical injuries but are left without a clear path to continuing mental health care.

The Assembly advanced the bill to the Senate on Tuesday. However, the proposal does not yet include a funding source. A legislative analysis estimated the grants would cost about $7,800 per survivor each year.

Original source: CalMatters

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San Diego County officials are seeking funding to repair a road crossing at Saturn Boulevard, a site identified by researchers and local leaders as a major source of airborne pollution from the river. The crossing, located along a rural stretch near the Tijuana River, has aging culverts that force sewage-contaminated water through concrete pipes, creating turbulence that can release hydrogen sulfide gas and other pollutants into the air.

The proposed repair is estimated to cost about $25 million. County leaders say the work would not solve the broader sewage crisis, but it could reduce the foul odors and harmful emissions that have affected residents in Imperial Beach, Coronado and other South Bay communities.

San Diego County Supervisor Paloma Aguirre, who has been a leading voice on the issue, said improving the Saturn Boulevard crossing could reduce the churning water that sends contaminated aerosols into nearby neighborhoods.

The project is being pursued while the United States and Mexico work toward roughly $800 million in wastewater improvements on both sides of the border. Those larger efforts are aimed at reducing the untreated sewage that regularly flows through the Tijuana River and into the Pacific Ocean.

For decades, cross-border pollution has closed beaches and threatened public health in southern San Diego County. The problem has worsened as Tijuana’s population has grown and wastewater systems on both sides of the border have struggled or failed, allowing huge volumes of raw sewage to reach the river and ocean.

For years, the focus was largely on contaminated water and the risks to swimmers and surfers. But in 2024, researchers at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography found that the pollution was also affecting the air. The river was emitting airborne chemicals, including hydrogen sulfide, which can cause respiratory problems and other health concerns.

Residents in nearby communities have reported asthma symptoms, headaches, skin rashes, stomach problems and other ailments, even when they do not enter the water. Families have expressed concerns about children playing outdoors, and some schools have kept students inside during periods of poor air quality.

Researchers traced much of the airborne pollution to the Saturn Boulevard site. The culvert system was originally built decades ago to move floodwater away from nearby farm fields. During flows, water crosses the road and rushes through the pipes, producing foam and spray that can carry contaminants into the air.

County officials say reengineering the site would help control floodwater and reduce the release of toxic gases and particles. But the project still needs a dedicated funding source.

One possible source is Proposition 4, the $10 billion climate bond approved by California voters in 2024. The measure includes about $50 million for border river projects, including work on the Tijuana River in San Diego County and the New River in Imperial County.

The money has been delayed by administrative procedures. This year, state Sen. David Alvarez, a San Diego Democrat, introduced legislation intended to remove some of the bureaucratic hurdles and speed up the release of the bond funds.

Jennifer Toney, a senior engineer with the State Water Resources Control Board, said the agency plans to accept grant applications for the funding from June through August, with awards expected by early next year. Local governments and nonprofit groups working on eligible river projects can apply.

The board could award as much as $20 million for construction projects such as the Saturn Boulevard repair, Toney said. However, the funding is expected to be competitive. Other possible projects include sediment removal, trash capture and additional work along the Tijuana River, as well as proposals for the New River in Imperial County.

A separate request in this year’s state budget seeks $23 million for most of the Saturn Boulevard construction. If approved, that allocation could allow the climate bond money to be used for other border water projects.

Another option is a proposed half-cent sales tax in San Diego County, called the Protect San Diego County Health and Safety Act, which is scheduled to go before voters in November. The tax could raise an estimated $360 million annually, with about $80 million identified for Tijuana River improvements.

The measure would allow up to 22.5% of revenue to be used for environmental mitigation tied to the Tijuana Valley sewage crisis, though it does not specify individual projects such as the Saturn Boulevard site.

While officials work to secure money for the larger repair, San Diego County is also moving ahead with a temporary fix that could be completed sooner. That short-term project is expected to cost about $2.5 million and could be in place by this time next year.

County Public Works Director Marisa Barrie said the temporary work would extend the existing pipes and move water downstream through an enclosed system. The goal is to reduce the turbulence that causes pollutants to become airborne.

Barrie said design work, environmental review and permitting are underway. Construction is expected to take about three months, and county officials hope to finish the project by March 2027, before bird nesting season begins in the area.

Aguirre said the culvert work should be viewed as one piece of a much larger response. It will not stop sewage from entering the river, she said, but it is a practical step that local and state officials can take now to reduce the burden on residents who have endured years of pollution.

Original source: CalMatters

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Two weeks ago a San Bernardino Superior Court overturned the county’s approval of a massive warehouse complex on more than 2 million acres in the community of Bloomington.

Then on Sunday Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that reins in warehouse development statewide by tightening building standards and restricting diesel truck routes in neighborhoods. 

The new law is likely to have a big impact in the Inland Empire, which already includes 4,000 warehouses that sprawl over nearly 40 square miles. Those facilities bring jobs, but also air pollution, noise and traffic.

Environmental activists applauded the court case reversing the Bloomington warehouse approval.

Developers of the Bloomington warehouse complex proposed building three new distribution centers, including a cavernous facility of more than a million square feet. Their plan involved buying and demolishing more than 100 homes.

A coalition of nonprofits sued San Bernardino County and the developer in 2022, saying officials missed the mark on environmental standards. On Sept. 17 Superior Court Judge Donald Alvarez agreed. He overturned the project approval and its environmental impact report, ruling that it failed to offer reasonable alternatives or properly analyze impacts on air quality, noise, energy and greenhouse gas emissions.

“We are very happy that the judge has looked at all the evidence and agreed” the environmental review was inadequate, said Alondra Mateo, a community organizer with the San Bernardino-based People’s Collective for Environmental Justice, which sued to stop the project.

The demolition of homes that carved away a swath of the community goes beyond typical development concerns, Mateo said: “It’s not just an environmental impact; it’s a cultural impact, it’s a mental health impact.” 

Then on Sunday Newsom approved the warehouse law authored by Inland Empire Democratic Assemblymembers Eloise Gómez Reyes and Juan Carillo. The law passed in the final hours of the legislative session in August, provoking criticism from all sides. While advocates for the logistics industry panned the law as a job-killer, community groups say its public health protections aren’t strict enough.

Paul Granillo, president and CEO of the Inland Empire Economic Partnership, described the law as bad policy “created in a smoke-filled room without experts.” He predicted it will hurt jobs in 

the Inland Empire and other parts of Southern California.

Environmental groups weren’t any happier. The law requires warehouse loading docks be set back 300 to 500 feet from to sensitive sites, including homes, schools and playgrounds. That’s not enough of a buffer to protect nearby residents, Mateo said, arguing that the ideal distance should be about one kilometer, which is more than 3,280 feet.

Reyes has said the law offers a starting point that local governments can expand on to protect public health. Mateo maintained it gives developers an out, enabling them to comply with the letter of the law by meeting minimum limits.

Lawmakers acknowledged the law will require amendments. The critics are ready to go. Industry groups say they’ll press for more flexible rules, while environmental groups want stricter ones.

“If anything we’re going to push even harder,” Mateo said.

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But local government groups oppose the legislation, and business groups warn that it would place onerous requirements on warehouse developments and cities, threatening trade and jobs. Gov. Gavin Newsom has until the end of the month to sign or veto the bill.

Assembly Bill 98 passed in the final hours before the Legislature adjourned Saturday, after lawmakers swapped out language from an agricultural bill for the new warehouse restrictions. 

The bill would tighten building standards for new warehouses; ban heavy-duty diesel truck traffic next to sensitive sites including homes, schools, parks and nursing homes; and require local governments to update truck routes to avoid residential streets, said Assemblymember Eloise Gómez Reyes, a San Bernardino Democrat who co-authored the bill.

The measure would also add minimum distance requirements between homes and warehouses, along with buffers featuring walls and landscaping. The bill would also require replacement of two new homes for every one that’s demolished to make room for new logistics centers, along with 12 months rental payment to displaced renters.

Reyes said the bill would counter the environmental and health effects of explosive warehouse growth in the Inland Empire, where 4,000 warehouses occupy a billion square feet combined and generate more than 600,000 truck trips per day.

“We have tried to do as best we can, remembering that it’s the health of the residents of California that has to be the state’s top priority,” she told CalMatters Monday. “Everything else is secondary.”

Although the bill was pushed through the Legislature in the last week of session, Reyes said it’s the product of years of effort and “not something that happened overnight.”

Reyes introduced a separate bill earlier this year that would have created bigger buffers between warehouses and sensitive sites, but it failed in committee. She said this bill is a starting point for better health protections in warehouse planning. 

“I think what we have put together is a common sense approach and it’s a very important first step,” she said. 

However business leaders objected to its rushed passage, arguing that it could put a chokehold on trade, endanger jobs and spike consumer costs. The very fact that an earlier bill didn’t make it out of committee shows that the issue deserved more time and attention, said Paul Granillo, president and CEO of the Inland Empire Economic Partnership.

“Anything that is put together in that short a time, in smoke-filled rooms is not good policy; and AB 98 is not good policy,” he said. 

Granillo said the restrictions could increase the cost of everyday goods and push business out of state. 

“This type of legislation just signals to people that would invest in creating jobs in California that California is not a job-friendly state,” he said.

Melissa Sparks-Kranz, a lobbyist for the League of California Cities, said the bill’s cost to local governments would be prohibitive, forcing cities to spend between $100,000 and several million dollars each to develop the new traffic plans, with penalties of $50,000 for delays in those updates. The league is urging Newsom to veto the bill; the California State Association of Counties is also against it.

Granillo added that the bill’s standards for setbacks and truck routes strip local governments of their land use authority. “The idea that the state thinks it can come up with a solution that will work in all cities of California is ludicrous,” he said.

The California Chamber of Commerce, however, called the bill a “valuable compromise” that could provide a backstop against more extensive legislation and litigation affecting warehouse projects.

Warehouse developments have long been a mixed blessing to communities in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, offering steady employment and economic growth, but worsening the region’s haze of pollution and imposing heavy traffic on neighborhood streets. 

Riverside and San Bernardino rank first and second among the counties with highest ozone levels and among the top dozen for particulate pollution. Activists link the proliferation of warehouses to unusually high rates of asthma and cancer.

Local and state officials have tried to thread the needle between environmental protections and economic growth, but sometimes they leave community members, particularly those in low-income communities of color, with the sense that they are cut out of the conversation. 

Those concerns made for an unlikely alignment between industry groups and environmental justice advocates. The Jurupa Valley-based Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice also opposed the bill, arguing that it didn’t go far enough to control persistent air pollution from the warehouse boom.

Although the legislation set minimum setbacks of 300 to 500 feet from warehouse docks to the property line of sensitive sites, it fell short of the 1,000 feet recommended to avoid the worst diesel exposure, said Ana Gonzalez, the center’s executive director. And it calls for warehouses to use zero-emission engines when “operationally feasible,” which she said leaves loopholes for developers.

Gonzalez admitted that she was surprised to join industry groups in opposition: “It put us in a muddy place, because we never thought we would be on the same side opposing a warehouse or environmental justice bill.”

Other groups said the bill strikes a balance between environmental and economic interests, even if it didn’t please either side.

James Thuerwachter, a lobbyist for the California State Council of Laborers, which represents workers in the construction industry, said the bill accommodates job creation and environmental regulation. 

“AB 98 brings innovative solutions to tackle immediate air quality, safety, and supply chain issues, while also bringing our distribution process into the 21st century,” he said in a state Senate Appropriations Committee hearing last week.

While the bill didn’t meet all her expectations, Gonzalez said it sets baseline environmental health standards that community groups can use to push for greater protections.

“Our organization feels that if the governor signs this bill, there is an opportunity to build from here and do better,” she said.

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Assemblymember Corey Jackson, a Moreno Valley Democrat, is proposing an electric vehicle opportunity zone in the area, to expand training and education programs for EV technicians and engineers.

The bill could benefit car mechanics who build and maintain the vehicles, electricians and welders who make charging stations to power them, and software developers who design programs to run the cars. The bill would also offer business loans, tax credits, and grants to EV manufacturers.

“We’re trying to mimic what California did for Tesla, to get other people in the game,” Jackson said. “And to make sure those resources are centered in lower income and middle class communities, not just Silicon Valley or large urban areas.”

The bill passed the Assembly in May and survived the Senate appropriations committee last week, but must win final approval in the Legislature by Aug. 31 to reach the governor’s desk. Startup costs would be at least $4.5 million with $1.2 million in annual expenses after that, according to the bill analysis, making it trickier to pass amid the state’s $47 billion budget deficit.

Jackson and the bill’s supporters maintain it’s a sound investment. Creating well-paid trade and technical jobs is a high priority for leaders in the Inland Empire, a region known as a warehouse center and bedroom community. Local engineering students and other university graduates often commute several hours to work in coastal counties, or leave the region entirely.

The opportunity zone “will help to keep these educated people in the region because there will be jobs for them,” Jackson said.

The biggest beneficiary, at least initially, could be a luxury EV maker.

The precise boundaries of the opportunity zone are yet to be determined, but Jackson said it would likely fall in Moreno Valley, home to Karma Automotive, which has produced 1,000 vehicles so far, at prices starting at $147,000 and reaching $500,000.

These aren’t the commuter cars that will get California to its goal of transitioning all new vehicles to zero emissions by 2035. But Karma President Marques McCammon said its vehicles serve as proof of concept for technology that can eventually be deployed by bigger automakers.

“The easiest way to de-risk new technologies is to release them into markets that have a higher tolerance for risks,” he said.

In other words, customers who can afford an upscale EV will, in effect, test drive new technology. Then other car manufacturers can scale that up to build tens of thousands of electric cars at lower prices.

“I can help my business and shareholders, and also be a support system and a learning laboratory for the broader industry,” McCammon said.

Moreno Valley Mayor Pro Tem Cheylynda Barnard, who’s also executive director of the Inland Empire Labor and Community Center, said the city is rooting for the bill.

“Moreno Valley is ripe with talent and getting this type of innovation in the city would be helpful in creating jobs and opportunities,” she said.

There’s already an automotive hybrid and EV training program at Riverside City College, where students can earn certificates or associate degrees. Jackson’s bill would extend internships and apprenticeships to more students and encourage other EV automakers to locate in the region, said Riverside Community College District Trustee Keri Then.

“While our students are completing certificates or apprenticeships or degree programs they earn while they learn, so they graduate with near zero debt for their experience,” she said.

The EV zone would support skilled trade workers, along with engineers and scientists, creating pipelines for well-paid jobs that don’t require four-year degrees, Jackson said.

“This generation wants to know what they are going to get for spending so much time and money for their education,” he said. “We want to make sure that people know that if you choose this pathway, there’s a job waiting for you. There’s a profession waiting for you.”

For McCammon, the car business is a life-long pursuit. He said he grew up playing with the golden wrench his grandfather received as a Chrysler mechanic. McCammon later earned undergraduate and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering, before working as an engineer and executive at Chrysler and other firms. He hopes to guide Inland Empire students down the same path.

“I want to see more female engineers and technicians,” McCammon said. “I want to see more Blacks and Latinos. I want another generation coming into our industry.”

Jackson’s bill notes that a Riverside County opportunity zone would be a model for other EV hubs around the state. But California will need a broader approach to meet its zero emissions goals, said Orville Thomas, CEO of the California Mobility Center, a Sacramento organization with similar goals of promoting clean technology and transportation.

“I hope we’re not just saying each county has to do their own opportunity zone,” he said. “I hope the state looks at it and says we’re going to do a statewide system that accelerates zero emissions manufacturing.”

But as a starting point Riverside County is a good site for an EV hub, with its proximity to Salton Sea lithium deposits needed for battery production, Thomas said.

Riverside County has a bit of a split personality when it comes to sustainability. It’s a center for lithium mining and other alternative energy projects such as wind and solar farms. Yet Riverside and neighboring San Bernardino County consistently rank among the worst in the nation for ozone and particulate air pollution. Establishing an EV hub won’t immediately fix that, but it could move the needle.

“When the state reaches its climate goals, then the Inland Empire is going to benefit from that,” Jackson said. “The Inland Empire… continues to be one of the fastest growing regions in the state. If we are not buying and transitioning to electric vehicles, then the state as a whole won’t.”

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The research findings appear in the peer-reviewed journal eClinicalMedicine, part of The Lancet Discovery Science suite of open-access journals.

Previous studies on individual pollutants have suggested adverse effects on bone mineral density, osteoporosis risk, and fractures in older individuals. The new study is the first to explore the connection between air pollution and bone mineral density specifically in postmenopausal women, and the first to explore the effects of air pollution mixtures on bone outcomes.

The researchers analyzed data collected through the Women’s Health Initiative study, an ethnically diverse cohort of 161,808 postmenopausal women. They estimated air pollution (PM10, NO, NO2, and SO2) exposures based on participants’ home addresses. They measured bone mineral density (BMD; whole-body, total hip, femoral neck, and lumbar spine) at enrollment at follow-up at year one, year three, and year six using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry.

The magnitude of the effects of nitrogen oxides on lumbar spine BMD would amount to 1.22 percent annual reductions—nearly double the annual effects of age on any of the anatomical sites evaluated. These effects are believed to happen through bone cell death by way of oxidative damage and other mechanisms.

“Our findings confirm that poor air quality may be a risk factor for bone loss, independent of socioeconomic or demographic factors. For the first time, we have evidence that nitrogen oxides, in particular, are a major contributor to bone damage and that the lumbar spine is one of the most susceptible sites of this damage,” says study first author Diddier Prada, MD, PhD, associate research scientist in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health.

“Improvements in air pollution exposure, particularly nitrogen oxides, will reduce bone damage in postmenopausal women, prevent bone fractures, and reduce the health cost burden associated with osteoporosis among postmenopausal women. Further efforts should focus on detecting those at higher risk of air pollution-related bone damage,” says lead author Andrea Baccarelli, MD, PhD, chair of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health.

Car and truck exhaust is a major source of nitrous oxides, as are the emissions from electrical power generation plants.

Approximately 2.1 million osteoporosis-related bone fractures occur annually, resulting in up to $20.3 billion in annual direct health costs. Osteoporosis impacts women more than men, with 80 percent of the estimated 10 million Americans with osteoporosis being women. Postmenopausal women are at higher risk, with one in two women over 50 experiencing a bone fracture because of osteoporosis.

Previously, Columbia researchers showed that long-term air pollution exposure reduces BMD and increases bone fracture risk in later life. Subsequently, these findings have been confirmed in multiple human studies.

Study co-authors include Carolyn J. Crandall at UCLA; Allison Kupsco, Marianthi-Anna Kioumourtzoglou, Yike Shen, Gary Miller, Iuliana Ionita-Laza at Columbia Mailman; James D. Stewart, Eric A. Whitsel at UNC Chapel Hill; Duanping Liao and Jeff D. Yanosky at Public Health Sciences, Hershey, PA; Andrea Ramirez at National Autonomous University of Mexico; and Jean Wactawski-Wende at SUNY Buffalo.

The research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (ES030163, TR00187, ES020836, ES025225, ES009089, AG069120, ES032242, ES027747, ES031688, AG058704, ES028805, ES030616, ES029943).

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Pregnant, low-income New Yorkers living in neighborhoods with higher levels of air pollution were 60 percent more likely to test positive for COVID-19, according to a new study led by scientists at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Study results appear in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

The researchers examined the relationship between 3,318 pregnant individuals’ COVID-19 test results and their long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5). COVID testing was done for everyone at the time of delivery at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, March–December 2020. Exposure estimates were based on location-specific air pollution data between 2018 and 2019 at participant residences. Results were adjusted to account for individual- and neighborhood-level socioeconomic status.

They found no association between PM2.5 and ever testing positive for COVID-19 for everyone in the study group. However, odds of testing positive were 60 percent higher for each 1 μg/m3 increase in long-term PM2.5 among those using Medicaid health coverage for low-income Americans. While only 22 percent of those testing positive reported symptoms, 69 percent of symptomatic individuals used Medicaid.

Pregnant persons with COVID-19 are more likely to experience significant respiratory morbidity and more likely to die than non-pregnant persons with COVID-19. Pregnant persons with COVID-19 are also more likely to experience adverse pregnancy outcomes, including preterm delivery, preeclampsia, and possibly stillbirth. Exposure to PM2.5 during pregnancy has been shown to increase risk of preterm birth, as well as delivery of a low-birth-weight neonate.

Large-scale epidemiologic studies reveal consistent associations between higher long-term PM2.5 concentrations and increased risk of acute respiratory infection in the general population.

“COVID-19 has exposed and exacerbated existing health disparities. Low-income pregnant people may have been more likely to test positive for the virus and be symptomatic due to more exposure on the job or inability to isolate, as well as heightened exposure to a range of environmental pollutants,” says first author Joan Casey, PhD, assistant professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health.

Study co-authors include Marianthi-Anna Kioumourtzoglou, Jeffrey Shaman, Sasikiran Kandula of Columbia Mailman; Andreas Neophytou of Colorado State University; Elizabeth L. Ogburn, Kristin C. Darwin, and Jeanne S. Sheffield of Johns Hopkins University; and Cynthia Gyamfi-Bannerman, University of California San Diego School of Medicine.

The research was supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (grants ES027023 and ES009089).

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An analysis of racial disparities in urban air pollution reveals starker differences than previously understood in the communities where most Americans live. Compared to earlier studies, researchers found more substantial increases in concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) comparing census tracts with no Black residents with census tracts with a small percent of Black residents. The findings are published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

Scientists at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and partners modeled census tract level PM2.5 concentrations using a nonlinear method that accounts for poverty and population density using data from 2010. The nonlinear method allows for the relationship between race/ethnicity and air pollution to change across communities.

“Much research has documented racial disparities but in communities at the tail of the distribution, such as where a community is 80 percent Black. We see this disparity begin when just a few Black individuals enter a community, meaning we see an immediate disparity in communities where most Americans live,” says senior author Joan Casey, PhD, assistant professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia Mailman School.

The researchers found that the standard linear method underestimated the severity of air pollution in areas with low percentages of Black residents. Using the new nonlinear method, the difference in PM2.5 concentrations between an area without any Black residents and 10 percent Black residents is +1.1 µg/m3 of PM2.5 versus a difference of +0.09 µg/m3 in the linear model. The linear method also seems to overestimate the severity of air pollution in areas with high percentages of white residents. Using the nonlinear method, the difference in air pollution concentrations between an area with 80 percent vs. 90 percent white is -0.47 µg/m3 of PM2.5 vs. -0.17 µg/m3 in the linear model.

These differences are important because even a 1 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 can increase risk of numerous health outcomes including adverse birth outcomes and cardiovascular disease. The larger than previously recognized disparities in air pollution where most Americans live may have implications for persistent racial health disparities in the United States.

The researchers’ use of this method was informed by their understanding of how historical sociopolitical processes differently impacted neighborhoods with small vs. large non-white populations.

First author Misbath Daouda, a PhD candidate in environmental health sciences at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, says: “History shows that even a relatively small Black population can set-off racist practices that restrict where these individuals can live and work, which can lead to additional exposure to environmental hazards like air pollution. For instance, a slight relative increase of the Black population in Birmingham, Alabama, in the early 1900s led to the implementation of a racially restrictive zoning ordinance in 1926, which resulted in the least desirable and most hazard-prone land in the city being zoned for Black residence. In 2010, Black Americans were about twice as likely to live in areas where PM2.5 concentrations exceeded the 90th percentile nationwide than white and Hispanic Americans.”

Co-authors include Lucas Henneman, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia; and Jeff Goldsmith and Marianthi-Anna Kioumourtzoglou at Columbia Mailman School.

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A New England Journal of Medicine article reviews the evidence on the large and growing toll of air pollution and fossil fuel-driven climate change on children. Frederica Perera of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and Kari Nadeau of the Stanford University School of Medicine write that protecting children’s health requires that health professionals understand the multiple harms to children from climate change and air pollution and use available strategies to reduce these harms.

The authors write that the fetus, infant, and child are uniquely vulnerable to climate-related impacts and air pollution. Moreover, research indicates that air pollutants and climate change are able to interact to affect children’s health, although further study is needed. All children are at risk, but the greatest burden falls on those who are socially and economically disadvantaged.

The article cites dozens of research studies on how fossil fuel combustion is taking a major toll on the physical and mental health of children. Examples from the article follow:

Extreme Heat. Exposure to heatwaves in utero is associated with increased risk for preterm birth and low birth weight, hyperthermia and death in infants, heat stress, kidney disease, and other illnesses in children.

Climate-Intensified Extreme Events. Globally, climate-related events have already contributed to more than 50 million children being forced to leave their homes. In the U.S. over 900,000 displacements, many of them involving children, occurred in 2020 as a result of disasters. 

Air Quality. An estimated 7.4 million children in the U.S. were exposed to lung-damaging wildfire smoke every year between 2008 and 2012. This number has risen in recent years as large forest fires have become more frequent.

Food and Water Supply and Safety. In developing countries, climate-change-related food insecurity has led to a sharp increase in malnutrition, resulting in stunting of physical and mental development. Infection risk from waterborne pathogens like Salmonella is also exacerbated.

Change in Vector Ecology. Infection with Zika virus in pregnancy can cause microcephaly, severe brain malformations, and other birth defects. The U.S. has also experienced a marked increase in Lyme disease, with the highest rates in children.

Air Pollution. One billion children worldwide are exposed to very high levels of air pollution. Air pollution is strongly associated with increased risks of infant mortality, adverse birth outcomes, asthma and other respiratory illness, developmental disorders, and lifelong health problems, including reduced cognition, mental health problems, and autism.

While all children are at risk from air pollution and climate change, the authors point to substantial inequities according to income and race. As one example, risks from heatwaves are greatest in low-income communities of color where discriminatory policies such as redlining created urban heat islands (characterized by heat-trapping asphalt, few trees, dense buildings, traffic, industry and highways), and where resources to protect children from heat are fewer.

The authors underscore the need for simultaneous action on two fronts: to protect children today from climate hazards (“adaptation”) and to attack the root problem by reducing greenhouse gases and strengthening natural carbon sinks (“mitigation”). Adaptation measures include providing clean water to children and families facing drought and water contamination, early warning systems for flooding and air pollution, training and evacuation planning for families and children, shaded areas where children play, live and go to school, and mosquito nets to protect children from malaria and dengue. To address inequality, they write, these climate-specific measures must be paired with broad social programs to reduce poverty and discrimination, and provide water, sanitation, and hygiene services, high-quality healthcare, and education. They stress that solutions are available and being implemented around the world to reduce air pollution and mitigate climate change.

In the clinical arena, the article states that guidance is available to help in identifying individuals at particular risk from climate change or air pollution based on assessment of underlying illness (e.g., asthma), geographic location (e.g., proximity to air pollution, urban heat island or flooding), and mental health burdens (e.g., anxiety after being forced to relocate after a wildfire), the authors write. In addition, the article offers guidance on management, and patient counseling.

Given the cumulative impacts of fossil fuels on children’s physical and mental health, the authors call upon health professionals to use their power to protect children “by screening to identify those at high risk for associated health consequences; educating them and their families about these risks and effective interventions; and by advocating for strong mitigation and adaptation strategies.”

Frederica Perera is professor of environmental health sciences, director of translational research and founding director of the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. She has led numerous studies identifying the health risks of air pollution on children’s health and has written frequently on the threats to children’s health of climate change and air pollution from fossil fuel, including a forthcoming book Children’s Health and the Peril of Climate Change (Oxford University Press).

Kari Nadeau is the Naddisy Foundation endowed professor of medicine and pediatrics  at Stanford University. She is one of the nation’s foremost experts in adult and pediatric immune diseases. She has led research on the harms of air pollution and climate change on children and pregnant women at the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research at Stanford.

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Air pollution was significantly associated with an increased risk of hospital admissions for several neurological disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and other dementias, in a long-term study of more than 63 million older U.S. adults. The research was conducted by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and colleagues at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, and Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health. 

The study, the first nationwide analysis of the link between fine particulate (PM2.5) pollution and neurodegenerative diseases in the U.S, is published in The Lancet Planetary Health. The researchers leveraged an unparalleled amount of data compared to any previous study of air pollution and neurological disorders.

“The 2020 report of the Lancet Commission on dementia prevention, intervention, and care has added air pollution as one of the modifiable risk factors for these outcomes,” said Xiao Wu, a doctoral student in biostatistics at Harvard Chan School and co-lead author of the study. “Our study builds on the small but emerging evidence base indicating that long-term PM2.5 exposures are linked to an increased risk of neurological health deterioration, even at PM2.5 concentrations well below the current national standards.” 

Researchers looked at 17 years’ worth (2000–2016) of hospital admissions data from 63,038,019 Medicare recipients in the U.S. and linked these with estimated PM2.5 concentrations by ZIP code. Taking into account potential confounding factors like socioeconomic status, they found that, for each 5 microgram per cubic meter of air (μg/m3) increase in annual PM2.5 concentrations, there was a 13% increased risk for first-time hospital admissions both for Parkinson’s disease and for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. This risk remained elevated even below supposedly safe levels of PM2.5 exposure, which, according to current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards, is an annual average of 12 μg/m3 or less.

Women, white people, and urban populations were particularly susceptible, the study found. The highest risk for first-time Parkinson’s disease hospital admissions was among older adults in the northeastern U.S. For first-time Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias hospital admissions, older adults in the Midwest faced the highest risk. 

“Our U.S.-wide study shows that the current standards are not protecting the aging American population enough, highlighting the need for stricter standards and policies that help further reduce PM2.5 concentrations and improve air quality overall,” said Antonella Zanobetti, PhD, principal research scientist in Harvard Chan School’s Department of Environmental Health and a co-senior author of the study.

“As the American population is aging, the number of people with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases is expected to increase,” said Marianthi-Anna Kioumourtzoglou, ScD, assistant professor in environmental health sciences at Columbia Mailman School, and a co-senior author. “We found that particulate air pollution is an important factor contributing to disease aggravation, even at levels below the current national standards. To best protect older Americans, therefore, stricter standards are warranted.”

Other authors included Mahdieh Danesh Yazdi, Danielle Braun, Yaguang Wei, Yun Wang, Joel Schwartz, and Francesca Dominici, Liuhua Shi, Yara Abu Awad, Yaguang Wei, Pengfei Liu, and Qian Di. 

The study was supported by the Health Effects Institute (4953-RFA14-3/16-4), the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS R01 ES024332, R01 ES028805, R21 ES028472, P30 ES009089, P30 ES000002), the National Institute on Aging (NIA/NIH R01 AG066793-01, P50 AG025688), and the HERCULES Center (P30ES019776). Research described in this article was done under contract to the Health Effects Institute, an organization jointly funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (assistance award number R-83467701) and some motor vehicle and engine manufacturers.

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