Sac State students research link between air quality and health
Environmental Studies Professor Wayne Linklater is leading a team of students who are collecting air samples in underserved Sacramento neighborhoods and analyzing levels of pollutants and toxins to determine whether poor air quality is connected to negative health outcomes in those communities.
The researchers hope the information they gather will help residents fight for better neighborhood conditions. Studies have shown that communities of color in poorer neighborhoods are disproportionately exposed to air pollution.
“I’m hoping that, in the future, Sacramento and the country overall will get to a point where the level of pollution that we are exposed to isn’t based on race or class,” said student researcher Kaarina Thompson.
