Our current Air Quality focus is on Urban Air Quality. In the past, we've joined local efforts to stop the development of the Elcon plant in Falls Township (Bucks County) and development of the Bishop Tube site in Malvern (Chester County). 

Urban Air Quality

Our primary concern with air quality is Particulate Matter (PM) in Center City Philadelphia. The major source of PM in center city are diesel powered vehicles (buses and trucks) and secondarily, gasoline powered vehicles (automobiles). PM can accumulate a few feet from the ground making children and people who commute by bicycle particularly vulnerable.

Facts & Stats

Particulate matter is defined as smaller than 10 micrometers in diameter. Fine particulate matter (found in smoke and haze)  are 2.5 micrometers in diameter or smaller. Both are linked to health issues, including lung cancer.

Resources

• Purple Air Interactive Map
• EPA Particulate Matter Pollution Page
• State Of The Air reports by the American Lung Association
• Clean Air Council Mobile Air Monitors

Related Research 

• Researchers estimate over two million deaths annually from air pollution

• The effect of rurality on cancer incidence and mortality

• Particulate Matter Air Pollution Exposure, Distance to Road, and Incident Lung Cancer in the Nurses’ Health Study Cohort