Poison in the Air
A map, released by ProPublica earlier this month, uses thousands of sources of hazardous air pollution to show the spread of cancer causing chemicals.
The map demonstrates the risk air pollution from industrial plants pose on communities near them. During the process, ProPublica found more than a thousand locations they identified as hot spots of cancer-causing air. “They are not equally distributed across the country. A quarter of the 20 hot spots with the highest levels of excess risk are in Texas, and almost all of them are in Southern states known for having weaker environmental regulations. Census tracts where the majority of residents are people of color experience about 40% more cancer-causing industrial air pollution on average than tracts where the residents are mostly white. In predominantly Black census tracts, the estimated cancer risk from toxic air pollution is more than double that of majority-white tracts.”
Showing high risk locations across the United States, the map includes Salt Lake City. Check out the map to see if there are areas of potential concern near you, how much risk a facility adds to a community, and the carcinogens they’re emitting.
