Year 11 Pilot: Community-Based Particulate Matter Monitoring of Traffic and Transportation Pollution in Northwest Atlanta (NPU-G)

PI: Jeremy Sarnat, School of Public Health, Environmental Health

Study year: 2023

Exposure to particles in the air is linked with a range of adverse health effects such as increased heart and lung disease and death. Of particular concern are the risks of particle pollution from traffic and transportation sources. This pilot focuses on training a team of residents living in Atlanta Neighborhood Planning Unit G (NPU-G) to act as community field technicians to establish and maintain a particulate matter monitoring network among  their neighborhoods. NPU-G, located in northwest Atlanta and home of the former Bowen Homes public housing project, is undergoing rapid change and facing environmental stresses from numerous sources, including proposed commercial and industrial development along Hollowell Parkway and the expansion of I-285. This project aims to empower local nonprofits and NPU-G residents to be able to: a) identify current pollution hotspots within the neighborhood; and b) generate a baseline record of current pollution conditions to guide a future study aimed at reducing community exposures and improving health through the introduction of pollution reduction strategies, including planting tree barriers.  

How this study advances exposome science: In creating an extensive database of pollution monitoring data, this pilot will establish a critical basis to better understand NPU-G residents’ current and projected future environmental exposures, while also providing support for science-based interventions to improve public health. This project also aims to advance health equity by providing a community that has experienced historic disinvestment with the tools and resources needed to understand and address their air pollution exposures themselves.