This project is an NSF funded three-year study (2022-2024). Dr Jun Wu joins Dr. Maura Allaire at UCI as co-PI of the study. This project will illuminate disparities in U.S. drinking water and public health as well as the governance failures that cause inequities. Specifically, it will analyze how access to safe water is shaped by uncontested elections, non-diverse governing bodies, incomplete water quality information, residential segregation, and differential investment. The study is grounded in California, which offers a complex, polycentric system with 40 regulators, 2,818 water systems, and 40 million residents.
Joined by dedicated community volunteers from the Madison Park Neighborhood Association in Santa Ana,
California, we're currently in the process of executing 4 one-day "Toxic Tours" during which over 40
participants carry handheld air pollution monitors to over 70 locations during three separate time
periods throughout the city and surrounding region. The measurement devices, called AtmoTubes, generate
real-time measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and particulate matter (PM) concentrations,
which can be paired and stored with smartphones for alter analysis. Locations where volunteers are
collecting data include approximately sites across the Santa Ana, Tustin, Fountain Valley, and Garden
Grove, including large roadway intersections, residential areas, parking lots, public parks, as well as
publicly accessible areas around golf courses. The goal of this ongoing collaboration is to better
understand the spatial and temporal distribution of air pollution concentrations within the general
region and to identify potential sources of unhealthy air pollution exposure, such as those originating
from roadway traffic and industry. Additionally, we aim to better understand air pollution in the Santa
Ana area known as the "industrial corridor" so as to identify whether harmful environmental exposures
are disproportionately afflicting surrounding residents and creating issues of health inequity relative
to neighboring, more affluent regions.
Wildfires can be detrimental to urban and rural communities, causing impacts in the form of psychological
stress, direct physical injury, and smoke-related morbidity and mortality. In a recent study, we
examined the area burned by wildfires over the entire state of California from the years 2000 to 2020 in
order to quantify and identify whether burned area and fire frequency differed across Census tracts
according to socioeconomic indicators over time. Wildfire data were obtained from the California Fire
and Resource Assessment Program (FRAP) and National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), while demographic
data were obtained from the American Community Survey. Our results from this study demonstrated a
doubling in the number of Census tracts that experienced major wildfires and a near doubling in the
number of people residing in wildfire-impacted Census tracts, mostly due to an over 23,000 acre/year
increase in the area burned by wildfires over the last two decades. In general, we found that
high-impact Census tracts tended to have higher proportions of low-income residents and lower
proportions of high-income residents, as well as lower median household incomes and home values. These
findings are important to policymakers and state agencies as it relates to environmental justice and the
allocation of resources before, during, and after wildfires in the state of California.
Framework: Understanding the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and race/ethnicity with
environmental hazards, such as air pollution, is crucial for improving environmental justice as well as
advancing epidemiological research. Uneven and sparse distribution of government-operated air monitoring
stations results in a limited ability to measure particulate matter (PM) at a high spatial resolution.
The rapid development of low-cost air quality sensors in recent years allows for more widespread
monitoring at a higher spatiotemporal resolution and therefore an opportunity to improve spatiotemporal
characterization of air pollution exposure. Real-time PM2.5 measurements between October 2017 and
September 2020 were obtained from the low-cost PurpleAir sensor network in California. SES-related
variables were obtained from the CalEnviroScreen3.0 dataset. Spatial and temporal analyses were
conducted at the Census tract-level to investigate CalEnviroScreen3.0 SES variables in relation to the
distribution of PurpleAir sensor deployment, operational status, and sensor-based PM2.5 concentrations
in the study period. Results: Sensor-based PM2.5 concentrations were higher among Census tracts with low
SES, high asthma rates, heavy overall pollution burden, and high racial/ethnic minority population
groups. However, more PurpleAir sensors were deployed in more affluent communities with lower disease
and pollution burdens. Our results suggest a large proportion of deployed sensors were not in operation
at a given time. The operational condition of the sensors was likely affected by unusual or extreme
events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and major wildfires, especially in disadvantaged communities.
Conclusion: This study found that SES and race/ethnicity were related to the availability of
measurements and exposure levels of PM2.5 among Census tracts in California.
Exposure to the lead (Pb) and other heavy metals is a problem that disproportionately impacts low-income
communities and communities of color. In an ongoing community-based participatory research project
involving the collection of over 1,500 soil samples by community volunteers and members from Plo-NO!
Santa Ana! Lead-Free Santa Ana!, we are assessing the distribution of soil heavy metal concentrations
and related social vulnerabilities across Census tracts in the disadvantaged city of Santa Ana,
California. Our ultimate goal is to characterize heavy metal-related carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic
risk, pinpoint potential sources related to contamination, identify areas that may be in need of
remediation and explore the critical topic of environmental injustice that still afflicts communities as
it relates to harmful exposures. Ultimately, we hope that our identification of subpopulations who at
elevated risk of heavy metal exposure, combined with our heavy metals source assessment, will to inform
community-driven recommendations for policies and initiatives to remediate soil contamination and
protect public health and health equity.
Established in 1987 as a grassroots, resident-driven, community-building organization; Madison Park
Neighborhood Association (MPNA) is working to improve the quality of life for all residents in the
Madison Park neighborhood and surrounding South-East Santa Ana.
MPNA became a non-profit in 2009 and in 2011 launched The Getting Residents Engaged in Exercise and
Nutrition (MPNA-GREEN) Programs at James Madison Elementary School as part of the Santa Ana Building
Healthy Communities Initiative (SABHC) from The California Endowment.
Mission: Through civic engagement and community empowerment, MPNA-GREEN promotes:
Youth Educational Opportunities, Family Health & Wellness, and a Safe and Clean Environment
MPNA GREEN works in collaboration with a variety of partners including diversity of granting agencies and
community donors, City of Santa Ana, Santa Ana Healthy Neighborhoods Alliance (SAHNA), Santa Ana
Building Healthy Communities (SABHC) partners, City of Santa Ana Department of Parks and Recreation
(Parks & Recreation), Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD), James Madison Elementary School, Serve
the People, the University of California Irvine (UCI); School of Medicine, Institute for Clinical and
Translational Science, Law School, School of Public Health, School of Education, Department of Chicano/
Latino Studies, Newkirk Center for Science and Society, Pediatric Exercise and Genomics Research Center.
The building of collaborations and partnerships is ongoing. MPNA-GREEN puts community first and is
resident-driven.
We would like to acknowledge photo credits to the Research Justice Shop at the UCI Newkirk Center for Science & Society.
