What’s in the air you breathe?: California tackles air pollution disparities with data, policy efforts

While California holds a reputation as a leader in environmental policy, it still ranks worst out of all 50 states for average public exposure to particulate matter pollution — largely due to the state’s topography and dense population. California is also home to 8 of the 10 U.S. metropolitan areas with the highest year-round concentration of particulate matter. In 2017, the Bay Area ranked fourth on the list, above the notoriously polluted Los Angeles-Long Beach area. And though overall air quality statewide is improving, there are communities where pollution levels are the same or worse.
Today, understanding air quality at a hyperlocal level is a major challenge for both local residents and public officials. Data monitoring stations are few and far between, taking regional air measurements that differ drastically from what an individual may be actually breathing at any given time. As population and traffic congestion in the Bay Area grow, existing infrastructure keeps many local schools and athletic facilities a stone’s throw from emissions-heavy freeway routes. And as has been well-documented, low-income areas and communities of color face stronger impacts from polluted air.
Startups and government agencies are working to improve data collection on air quality statewide, while policymakers attempt to close the disparity in pollution levels between wealthy and disadvantaged communities. But as they do so, future wildfires like those that tore through the North Bay in 2017 threaten to set back the state's efforts to clean up the air.