The world is at our fingertips today. And the price we paid? Food comes with warning labels, water needs filtering, and even sunshine demands sunscreen. Is anything truly safe anymore? What about the air we breathe? Looks like it isn’t either. But the most unacceptable fact about it is, most people do not have the means to know. More than 50 million people in the United States have no way of knowing if the air around them is clean or dangerously polluted.
A new study from the researchers in the Penn State College of Health and Human Development found that more than half of the counties in the US have no air-quality monitoring. No, they were not talking about the bygone eras, but in recent months. 50 million Americans had no means to monitor air quality in 20224. The study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences revealed that rural counties in the Midwest and South were less likely to have an air-quality monitoring site.
Nelson Roque, assistant professor of human development and family studies and lead author of the study, noted that air quality monitoring is a critical public health tool. Air quality measures are used to estimate people’s exposure to air pollution.
"Exposure to air pollution has been directly and indirectly to cancers, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, immune disorders and more. If we are not measuring air quality in large regions of the country, then we do not know how significant air pollution problems are. For example, if there is a wildfire in a county with no air quality monitoring site, how will people know whether it is safe to sleep in their homes or work at their places of business?" Alexis Santos, associate professor of human development and family studies and of demography at Penn State and co-author of the study, said in a release.
The team looked at the data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) AirData active sites directory and found that 1,848 counties in the US, which is 58% of all counties, have no active air-quality monitoring sites. The monitoring in each state varies across the US. Pennsylvania, for example, ranks in the top 15 states, with 67% of the counties having at least one air-quality monitoring site.
The researchers used data from the US Census Bureau and a statistical model called logistic regression to find patterns in areas without air-quality monitoring. They found that rural counties were the most likely to lack monitoring. Even after considering population size, counties without air-quality monitoring tended to have more poverty, fewer high school graduates, and a higher percentage of Hispanic and Black residents.
“Air pollution affects everyone’s health, so it is important for everyone in the nation to have access to accurate information about the quality of the air they breathe. Where we don't collect data, the threat and impact of pollution are invisible,” Roque, a Social Science Research Institute co-funded faculty member, added.
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The nation had 4,821 active air-quality monitoring stations, however, the researchers found that some sites are several decades old and frequently go offline. From 1957, when national air-quality monitoring began, to Sep. 2024, when this study was conducted, 20,815 air quality sites had been active at one point.
“We ran this same analysis just a couple of months apart, and we found that the number of air-quality monitoring sites had changed over that short period of time. These stations are in flux all the time, and data-reporting intervals also vary, which points to the need for investment in and modernization of this infrastructure,” Roque added.
“Generally speaking, infrastructure for health care, transportation, education, and other areas is underdeveloped in rural counties. This study demonstrated the pattern holds for air-quality monitoring, as well. This leaves people in rural areas vulnerable to increased exposure to air pollution from wildfires, agriculture, industrial activities, and other sources. As a society, we need to invest in air-quality monitoring if we want to keep people safe and save on the long-term costs of pollution exposure,” Santos, a Social Science Research Institute co-funded faculty member, said.
A new study from the researchers in the Penn State College of Health and Human Development found that more than half of the counties in the US have no air-quality monitoring. No, they were not talking about the bygone eras, but in recent months. 50 million Americans had no means to monitor air quality in 20224. The study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences revealed that rural counties in the Midwest and South were less likely to have an air-quality monitoring site.
Nelson Roque, assistant professor of human development and family studies and lead author of the study, noted that air quality monitoring is a critical public health tool. Air quality measures are used to estimate people’s exposure to air pollution.
"Exposure to air pollution has been directly and indirectly to cancers, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, immune disorders and more. If we are not measuring air quality in large regions of the country, then we do not know how significant air pollution problems are. For example, if there is a wildfire in a county with no air quality monitoring site, how will people know whether it is safe to sleep in their homes or work at their places of business?" Alexis Santos, associate professor of human development and family studies and of demography at Penn State and co-author of the study, said in a release.
The team looked at the data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) AirData active sites directory and found that 1,848 counties in the US, which is 58% of all counties, have no active air-quality monitoring sites. The monitoring in each state varies across the US. Pennsylvania, for example, ranks in the top 15 states, with 67% of the counties having at least one air-quality monitoring site.
The researchers used data from the US Census Bureau and a statistical model called logistic regression to find patterns in areas without air-quality monitoring. They found that rural counties were the most likely to lack monitoring. Even after considering population size, counties without air-quality monitoring tended to have more poverty, fewer high school graduates, and a higher percentage of Hispanic and Black residents.
“Air pollution affects everyone’s health, so it is important for everyone in the nation to have access to accurate information about the quality of the air they breathe. Where we don't collect data, the threat and impact of pollution are invisible,” Roque, a Social Science Research Institute co-funded faculty member, added.
Video
The nation had 4,821 active air-quality monitoring stations, however, the researchers found that some sites are several decades old and frequently go offline. From 1957, when national air-quality monitoring began, to Sep. 2024, when this study was conducted, 20,815 air quality sites had been active at one point.
“We ran this same analysis just a couple of months apart, and we found that the number of air-quality monitoring sites had changed over that short period of time. These stations are in flux all the time, and data-reporting intervals also vary, which points to the need for investment in and modernization of this infrastructure,” Roque added.
“Generally speaking, infrastructure for health care, transportation, education, and other areas is underdeveloped in rural counties. This study demonstrated the pattern holds for air-quality monitoring, as well. This leaves people in rural areas vulnerable to increased exposure to air pollution from wildfires, agriculture, industrial activities, and other sources. As a society, we need to invest in air-quality monitoring if we want to keep people safe and save on the long-term costs of pollution exposure,” Santos, a Social Science Research Institute co-funded faculty member, said.
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