They are twice as likely to visit an emergency room for asthma, and Latino children are twice as likely to die from asthma compared to their white counterparts.
“PM2.5 affects our health, our families, and of course, our future generations,” said William Carcamo, Commerce, California air quality monitoring site manager. “It’s a reality we can’t ignore. It’s very sad because it shortens our lives, and the Latino community often doesn’t know about this; there is a great lack of awareness about how polluted the air is.”
The data collected through El Aire Que Respiramos using PurpleAir PA-II-SD monitors from January 1 to December 31, 2024 in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Commerce, Indio, San Jacinto, and La Mirada, California; McAllen, Weslaco, and El Paso, Texas; Caldwell, Idaho; Blue Island, Illinois; and Henderson, Nevada reveal important trends and disparities in air quality across the participating Latino communities. In several locations, PM2.5 concentrations regularly exceeded the EPA’s safety threshold, signaling persistent exposure to dangerous levels of air pollution.
Sites exceeding PM2.5 concentration safety standards included Weslaco, Texas (average 9.3 µg/m³), Caldwell, Idaho (10.2 µg/m³), Commerce, California (9.5 µg/m³), and
San Bernardino, California (11.0 µg/m³), which is ranked as one of the nation’s most polluted counties. Communities within EPA’s safety threshold included San Jacinto (7.3 µg/m³) and Indio, California (7.4 µg/m³); El Paso, Texas (6.7 µg/m³), and McAllen (8.9 µg/m³); and Blue Island, Illinois (8.7 µg/m³).
These exceedances were particularly linked to seasonal wildfire activity, underscoring the growing influence of wildfires as a regional pollution source. Conversely, monitoring sites with PM2.5 levels consistently below the EPA threshold were located in areas with strong enforcement of the Clean Air Act—affirming that robust environmental protections are vital to safeguarding community health.
Beyond data collection, the program has sparked a powerful movement for awareness and advocacy. Site managers have become educators and advocates—hosting community workshops, roundtable discussions, and informational events, speaking at public forums, providing public comment, and meeting with local and federal officials to discuss air quality concerns. These efforts have inspired residents to become more civically engaged and to advocate directly with their representatives for cleaner, healthier air.
“Through El Aire Que Respiramos, we collected data, made it accessible to the communities, and provided knowledge, evidence, resources, and training to empower clean air advocates,” said Hilda Berganza, Hispanic Access Foundation Climate Program Manager. “Community awareness of PM2.5 pollution and advocacy has greatly increased along our different sites, with site managers and residents directly engaging with their elected officials, communicating their concerns and pushing for stronger air quality protections.”
The findings for 2024 reaffirm the power of citizen science in democratizing environmental data and equipping frontline communities with the tools to advocate for themselves. Building on this success, El Aire Que Respiramos continues to collect data for 2025, empowering Latino communities to monitor their own air quality, build local resilience, and ensure that health disparities are addressed through data-driven policy action.
To learn more about El Aire Que Respiramos and Hispanic Access Foundation’s ongoing work to ensure equitable access to clean air, visit www.hispanicaccess.org.