Asthma and Air Pollution in the San Francisco East Bay

Abstract

Primarily low-income, Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) neighborhoods face disproportionate exposure to environmental hazards in the United States today. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of environmental racism during the past century. It outlines the historical precedent for policies that perpetuate environmental racism and health inequality while highlighting how they negatively impact health outcomes in the San Francisco Bay Area. Specifically, this analysis explores the ban against non-passenger trucks weighing more than 9,000 lbs on Interstate-580, which traverses the predominantly white, upper-middle-class neighborhood of Oakland Hills in Oakland, California. Consequently, air traffic pollution on Interstate-880, the alternative highway in East Bay that runs through low-income communities of color in West Oakland, bears the burden of air traffic pollution related to trucking. Poor health outcomes, such as the prevalence of asthma and recent wheeze, are elevated in communities near I-880 as compared to I-580. Moreover, greater rates of traffic-related air pollutants, such as black carbon, nitrous oxide, and nitrogen dioxide have been shown to be greater near I-880 than near I-580. This paper explores past successes in the pursuit of environmental justice in California and builds on existing theories to propose potential solutions to the crisis in Oakland.