News Coverage
Hispanics breathe worse air
Published June 19, 2002
Hispanics living in poor neighborhoods in the San Joaquin Valley breathe dirtier air than wealthier, white people in more affluent areas, according to a statewide report by an environmental advocacy group.
"The whiter or richer your neighborhood is, the cleaner the air you breathe," said Bill Walker, the vice president for the Environmental Working Group's West Coast operation. The organization is lobbying for stricter air standards. According to the report, released Tuesday, new particulate standards would reduce pollution-related deaths by 86 percent and hospital emissions by 55 percent for people living in predominantly minority communities. And for every million residents in nonwhite communities, there would be 164,000 fewer asthma attacks and 86,500 fewer lost work days each year.
The report is a statewide snapshot and does not break out pollution levels by county, Walker said. But he chose the United Health Centers clinic in Parlier, Calif., as the site to announce the findings because "it's no secret to anybody that the Central Valley has some of the worst air in the country."
Parlier residents, who are predominantly Hispanic, are among those in the state who stand to benefit most if stricter guidelines for airborne particles are adopted, Walker said.
For its report, the environmental organization used average annual readings from state and federal air monitors in 112 neighborhoods in California that record levels of particulate pollution. The air pollution levels were overlaid with neighborhood demographic data from the 2000 Census.
The results, according to the report: Nonwhite residents breathe levels of particulates that are 28 percent higher than in areas with predominantly white residents, and poor residents of any color breathe pollution at levels 17 percent higher.
The disparity is greatest in Hispanic neighborhoods, where particulate levels are 36 percent higher than in white neighborhoods.
Deaths related to particles in the air are almost twice as high in non-white areas and hospital admissions are 46 percent higher.
Breathing microscopic bits of soot, dust and aerosols small enough to lodge deep in the lungs have been associated with premature cardiovascular and respiratory deaths and increased hospitalizations for lung diseases, such as asthma and chronic bronchitis.
In a report issued last month, the Environmental Working Group said particulate pollution is responsible for more than 9,000 annual deaths statewide.
The "clean air color line" extends to monitoring and enforcement, Walker said.
About 80 percent of the monitoring stations are in largely white neighborhoods, he said. And an analysis of enforcement of air pollution laws found disparities in fines that appear to be race-based.
"There appears to be a sanctioning of higher rates of respiratory disease and death for non-Anglos," Walker said.
(Contact Barbara Anderson of the Fresno Bee in California at http://www.fresnobee.com.)
