(New York, N.Y.) Today, E.P.A. Administrator Gina McCarthy joined Senator Cory Booker, Mayor Ras J. Baraka and Isella Ramirez of Ironbound Community Corporation at the Ironbound Community Corporation Family Success Center to visit the location of a first-of-its-kind community air monitor, which measures air quality in greater Newark where 25 percent of children suffer from asthma, 3 times the state average, and asthma accounts for the leading cause of absenteeism for Newark's school age children. The E.P.A. provided Newark's Ironbound Community Corporation cutting-edge air monitoring equipment and technical training to help community members collect air pollution data from multiple locations in the Ironbound community. The plan will provide information about air quality in Newark, determine the effectiveness of the monitoring equipment and training while allowing the E.P.A. to fine tune the citizen science lending plan so that it can be replicated in other communities. Results will be shared with the public later this year.
"This plan is a great example of our commitment to making a visible difference in communities across the country," said E.P.A. Administrator Gina McCarthy. "Community-based air monitoring plans like this one make public health a priority and pay multiple dividends. We not only gain valuable information, we also help community members gain the skills and experience they need to conduct citizen science plans in their communities to better protect their families."
"The Ironbound neighborhood is a perfect example of the negative environmental and health impacts of industrial pollution. Citizen science plans that connect local residents to air quality data helps to ignite the community to advocate for health-protective policies at the local, state, and federal levels," said Isella Ramirez, Ironbound Community Corporation, Environmental Justice Manager.
This plan is part of an effort by the E.P.A. to offer communities expertise to collect their own environmental data.
In this case, the E.P.A. has provided 4 air sensor devices that can simultaneously collect data on nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter, air pollutants that can trigger asthma, worsen heart disease and cause other adverse health effects including severe respiratory ailments such as emphysema and bronchitis.
The 4 air monitors, called the Citizen Science Air Monitors, were designed by EPA's Office of Research and Development specifically for use by volunteers. Each unit includes sensors for measuring nitrogen dioxide concentrations, temperature, and humidity, in real-time and a sensor for measuring fine particulates that are 1/30th the diameter of a human hair. The Citizen Science Air Monitors can collect data for seven days on a single battery charge. The monitors are being moved to different locations so that they can collect data from multiple locations.
The E.P.A. is also supplying detailed information on instrument operation, software for data management, and provided the ICC with a template quality assurance project to ensure that the data collected is accurate.
The E.P.A. expects the plan to help ICC investigate pollutants of concern and their relationship to air pollution sources and increase community awareness of local air quality. After the work concludes and once the data is carefully reviewed, ICC will share it with the public at a community meeting, which will be scheduled once the data is analyzed.
E.P.A. will use the components of the plan to expand its existing Citizen Science equipment loan plan in Region two and learn from the experience of the Ironbound community, sharing those lessons with other communities across the country.
The Ironbound's local and nearby sources of air pollution include NJ's biggest garbage incinerator and 34 other waste related facilities; the Ports of Newark and Elizabeth, which are responsible for approximately 7,000 daily truck trips; and the heavily trafficked highways and rail lines that surround the community.
For more information on EPA's Air Sensor Toolbox for Citizen Scientists, visit:
http://www.epa.gov/heasd/airsensortoolbox/
To learn more, please visit E.P.A. Region two Citizen Science:
http://www.epa.gov/citizenscience
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