photo: breathproject.org

Dorchester, MA- An orange flag flies above the corner of Codman Square Health Center in North Dorchester, a neighborhood just south of Boston. This flag acts as a warning for a significant percentage of the community. What does it mean? That the air they are breathing is not safe.

The presence of an orange air quality flag in Dorchester is unusual given the progress that the U.S. has made in reducing air pollution since the passage of the Clean Air Act in 1970. The Clean Air Act is viewed to be one of the most successful pieces of environmental legislation, with emissions dropping an average 72 percent amongst targeted air pollutants since its enactment. The subsequent reduction in air pollution has, in turn, led to a reduction in pollution-related deaths and illnesses such as respiratory and cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, and asthma. The benefits of these improvements in public health services are estimated to reach almost $2 trillion by 2020, surpassing the costs of meeting clean air standards by more than 30-to-1. So with air quality steadily improving and negative health effects decreasing nationwide, why does the community of North Dorchester need to worry about the air that they breathe? Continue reading When Breathing Becomes a Health Hazard →