Dorchester Avenue Air Quality Project:  The Dorchester Environmental Health Coalition (DEHC) is conducting an Air Quality Project, starting this month through July 2010, to collect preliminary air quality data (ultrafine particles) at selected locations along the Dorchester Avenue corridor.  There are several objectives for this project:

·         To initiate a before-and-after study of the effects of the Dorchester Avenue Transportation Improvement Project  on air quality affecting travellers and residents on and near the Avenue

·         To give DEHC an idea of enduring pollution hotspots that might warrant more investigation or possibly remediation

·         To encourage researchers to develop more studies of Dorchester’s local air quality

·         To help DEHC advocate for specific air quality remediation actions – both temporarily during construction and afterwards

·         To help guide other similar large-scale construction projects that may have air quality impacts, in Boston neighborhoods and regionally

·         To interest funders in supporting DEHC’s air quality work into the future

DEHC is working with consultant Tim McAuley of Consulting for Health, Air, Nature & Greener Environment (CHANGE) - he is providing the equipment and training for a team of volunteers who will systematically test air quality at locations along Dorchester Avenue.  After the raw data is collected Mr. McAuley will analyze it and produce a report for DEHC to disseminate to the community. Please take a look at the volunteer opportunity here if you are interested in volunteering. 

As DEHC reported in Nov 2009, the CAFEH Study is gathering data about air pollution and its effects on residents’ health in three communities.  CAFEH is a community based participatory study conducted through Tufts University School of Medicine and four community partners, Somerville Transportation Equity Partnership, Committee for Boston Public Housing, Inc., Chinatown Resident Association and Chinese Progressive Association.

Scientific research on air pollution from motor vehicle exhaust has shown that residents living close to heavily traveled highways may have increased rates of heart disease, asthma, and lung cancer because of their exposure to the nearby highway pollutants.  Residents living in Somerville, South Boston, Dorchester and Chinatown along I-93 and the Mass Pike have high exposure to traffic on these highways.  Activists in these communities » Read more: Community Assessment of Freeway Exposure & Health study: CAFEH