EPA air monitors are disproportionately located in white neighborhoods, research finds

Air thick with particulate pollution and fog hangs over Salt Lake City on Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. The AQI at the time was listed at 130 according to AirNow.gov, and the National Weather Service had issued a dense fog advisory. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)

Air quality monitors from the Environmental Protection Agency are often used to guide policy and public health initiatives and urban planning across the country. However, they are disproportionally located in predominantly white neighborhoods, a study from the University of Utah found.

Disparities exist for all the six pollutants included in the research, but, there were particular disparities in the monitoring of sulfur dioxide and lead, followed by ozone and carbon monoxide, according to the study. 

Generally, the disproportion was largest in Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities and American Indian or Alaska Native communities.

“It’s the question behind the question. Researchers, policymakers, we all use air quality data, but whose air is it measuring?” Brenna Kelly, doctoral student at the University of Utah and lead author of the study, said in a news release. “Even though this data is of really high quality, that doesn’t mean that it’s high quality for everyone.”

This disparity, Kelly said, may harm other studies aiming to determine whether air pollution exposure contributes to a disease, or other public health issues in communities that are predominantly of color. 

Marginalized communities in Utah and the U.S. have the highest exposure to air pollutants, research has shown. But, those studies haven’t been able to see the full extent of the problem because of the disparity in air quality monitoring, the U. researchers said.

Air quality research also faces another ethical dilemma, since it often requires the use of artificial intelligence tools, which have issues with biases. 

“If there was a disparity for just one type of monitor, it could conceivably be accidental or just poor design,” the study’s coauthor Simon Brewer, associate professor of geography and executive committee member of the U.’s One-U Responsible AI Initiative, said in the release. “The fact that it’s a consistent pattern across all pollutants suggests that the decision-making process needs to be looked at carefully — these monitors are not being distributed equitably.”