In May 2010, DEHC began an Air Quality Project to study the effects of the Dorchester Avenue Transportation Improvement Project on air quality affecting travelers and residents on and near the Avenue. We have finished collecting preliminary air quality data (ultrafine particles) at locations along Dorchester Avenue, and we are now working with CHANGE (Consulting for Health, Air, Nature & Greener Environment) to analyze the data, which we will release to the dehc.org website. (Click here to view the presentation about air quality we created for Upward Bound and Elmhurst Park youth.)
This data will help identify local pollution hotspots, and may help guide other large-scale construction projects that could have air quality impacts in Boston’s neighborhoods.
In addition to DEHC’s air quality project, the Community Assessment of Freeway Exposure and Health (CAFEH), will begin a study of Dorchester’s air quality in September. CAFEH is a project by Tufts University researchers and Boston-area community groups, supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to study the health effects of pollution exposure in neighborhoods adjacent to major highways. A 5-year, $2.5 million grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) will fund a study of four communities - Somerville, MA, the South Boston and Chinatown neighborhoods, and, added for 2010, Dorchester MA.
The study is looking at how air pollution from nearby highways is affecting the health of Boston residents. This study is important, because if you are living in an area affected by highway air pollution, you could be at higher risk for heart disease, asthma, and lung cancer.
Some Dorchester residents living in the Columbia-Savin Hill neighborhood on the west side of the I-93 expressway, along with some residents who live farther south near Ashmont, will be chosen at random by their street address and asked to participate in the study by responding to a survey. If you are 40 years or older, you may be asked a series of questions about your health, diet, and level of physical activity. People who choose to participate will also have the opportunity to provide more in-depth health-related data.
The survey takes about one hour. People who participate in the survey will be given a gift card to a local grocery store for their participation. CAFEH will also measure pollutants and monitor weather conditions in the area using mobile equipment.
If you live in:
- Columbia-Savin Hill (Columbia Rd. down to Savin Hill Ave., east of Dorchester Ave.),
- the St. Marks Area (between Dorchester Ave. and Adams St., Dix St. to Wrentham St.),
starting in September you may be asked to participate in this voluntary study. Please consider participating. The project is also hiring local residents to assist in the surveys – please see their job flyer here.
Everyone deserves clean air to breathe – those living near highways should not have a heavier burden of pollution or suffer disproportionate negative health effects. The results of CAFEH, it is hoped, will give us the information we need to help improve air quality for all Dorchester residents.
