Prince George’s County Low-Cost Air Quality Monitoring Network

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Many BIPOC communities throughout Prince George’s County are differentially burdened by exposure to traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) and environmental hazards associated with industrial activity. CEEJH has previously demonstrated that poor air quality is a public health concern in many Prince George’s County towns including Bladensburg, Brandywine, Cheverly, and Langley Park. Being that each of these areas are largely populated by African American or Latinx residents as well as low-wealth individuals, residents of Prince George’s County experience burdens associated with poor air quality that are distributed along sociodemographic lines. Because of this, it must be said that poor air quality is an environmental justice issue throughout the County.  The overall objectives of this project are twofold: 1) establish a county-wide neighborhood level air quality monitoring network that is accessible to County residents and other stakeholders, and 2) build community capacity via community engagement around air quality monitoring in order to ultimately improve air quality in the County and reduce negative exposures for populations who are disproportionately burdened by poor air quality. Air quality monitoring will be conducted across the county at several monitoring sites using the PurpleAir sensors. This network will collect real-time data on particulate matter (PM) levels. The data will be placed in the hands of communities in order to build capacity for advocacy and political change toward the creation of new/improved standards on air quality, ultimately improving the health of Prince George’s County residents.