Current news and useful links

Milestones

Fall 2023

There is a new monitor installed in far South Dallas that captures 2.5 and 10 PM levels, but also ozone (O3) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). The City of Dallas considered Midlothian Breathe's input in locating one of their monitors at the Mountain Creek Library near Joe Pool Lake as part of the Dallas Community Air Management Program (D-CAMP).

This collaboration between community, government and academia collects neighborhood air quality data using advanced low-cost sensor technology. 

Check out the data at D-CAMP's dashboard.

Fall 2022

We met with the newly appointed EPA Region 6 Director, Dr. Earthea Nance, her staff and several other local environmental groups to partner to improve conditions in North Texas. One of our main requests is for better positioning and maintenance of the TCEQ/EPA monitor in Midlothian that has historically been positioned on Old Fort Worth Road, upwind of the cement plants.

Summer 2022

We made a roadtrip to Austin to participate in the public hearing for the Sunset Commission's Review of TCEQ. Our concerns regarding TCEQ's lack of meaningful participation in the permitting process, disregard for cummulative impact of multiple pollution sources and environmental injustice concerns were shared by hundreds of similarly affected citizens across Texas.

May 2020

We were pleased to share that our gift of a PurpleAir sensor to the Midlothian city council was accepted, indicating that we are effectively changing attitudes in our town. 

We really appreciated everyone’s help in making this happen. The PurpleAir sensor is installed at Kimmel Park and is a great first step for the community. Please thank your city representatives for making this possible and bringing positive publicity to our cause. 

News stories of interest

Public health

Even Short-Term Exposure to Air Pollution May Raise Risk of Stroke, Study Finds (NBC News: September 2023)

Air Pollution Cuts Life Expectancy by More Than Two Years, Study Says (Reuters: June 2022)

Climate Change, Fossil-Fuel Pollution, and Children’s Health (New England Journal of Medicine: June 2022)

Could Air Pollution Help Trigger Depression in Teens? (Health Day: March 2022)

Exposure to Air Pollutants May Amplify Risk for Depression (Medical News Today: November 2021)

Prenatal Exposure to Ambient Ultrafine Particles Linked to Childhood Asthma (Pulmonology Advisor: July 2021)

Emulating Causal Dose-Response Relations Between Air Pollutants and Mortality in the Medicare Population (Harvard study in the Environmental Health Journal: May 2021)

Short-Term Associations of Ambient Nitrogen Dioxide with Daily Total, Cardiovascular, and Respiratory Mortality: Multilocation Analysis in 398 Cities (The BMJ: March 2021)

In Utero Air Pollution Exposure Tied to Poorer Cognition (Medscape: February 2021)

New Study Points to Invisible Killer of Infants (NPR: October 2020)

Air Pollution Could Increase Your Risk of Developing Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Other Neurological Disorders, Study Says (USA Today: October 2020)

The EPA Refuses to Reduce Pollutants Linked to Coronavirus Deaths  (ProPublica: October 2020)

Evaluating the Impact of Long-Term Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter on Mortality Among the Elderly (Science Advances: July 2020)

Air Pollution Kills More People Prematurely than Smoking, Malaria and HIV/AIDS, Study Finds (Newsweek: March 2020)

Breathing Polluted Air Shortens People’s Lives by an Average of 3 Years, a New Study Finds (Inside Climate News: March 2020)

Short-Term Increases in Air Pollution Linked to Several New Diseases (Harvard Magazine: March/April 2020)

Air Pollution Impact on Colds and Seasonal Allergies (Reuters Health News: February 2020)

No Safe Level: Study Links PM 2.5 to Increased Risk of Cardiac Arrest (Sydney Morning Herald: January 2020)

Short-Term Exposure to PM and Cardiac Arrest (The Lancet: January 2020)

Pediatric Exposure to Traffic-Related Pollution Reduces Brain Development (Sydney Morning Herald: January 2020) 

EPA Disbanded Scientists Meet and Determine Current EPA Standards Aren't Protecting Public Health (Michigan Advance: December 2019)

New Report Shows Dramatic Health Benefits Following Air Pollution Reduction (American Thoracic Society: December 2019)

Climate Change Poses Threats to Children’s Health Worldwide (New York Times: November 2019)

Dismissed EPA Science Advisers Gather to Provide Recommendations (Science Magazine: October 2019)

Air Pollution Experts Say Current Standards Must be Strengthened to Protect Public Health (Union of Concerned Scientists: October 2019)

Deaths Associated with Subthreshold PM Exposures (Journal of the American Medical Association: November 2019)

General air quality

Why Doesn't Texas Prevent the Concrete Plants from Coming into Your Community? (One Breath Partnership, April 2022) 

Where Are the Biggest Polluters in Dallas Fort Worth?  (Fort Worth Star-Telegram: March 2021)

Can DIY Air Monitoring Save DFW Air? (Green Source DFW: March 2021)

North Texans Breathed Polluted Air Nearly 30% of 2018, Report Says (Dallas Morning News: February 2020)

DFW in Top 10 of Most Polluted Cities (Environment America: January 2020)

2018 Illegal Emissions Events (Environment Texas: December 2019)

US Air Quality Got Worse After Years of Improvement and It's Killing More People (Science Alert: October 2019)

Dallas Hearing for EPA Proposal to Roll Back Methane Emissions Standards (Dallas Morning News: October 2019)

Dallas Closer to Monitoring Neighborhood Air Pollution (Dallas Observer: October 2019)

LafargeHolcim Reducing Carbon Footprint in Europe (LafargeHolcim: September 2019)

Air Quality in DFW Improves but Still Among Most Polluted US Cities (Dallas Morning News: April 2019)

Technology

Environmental Impacts and Decarbonization Strategies in the Cement and Concrete Industries (Nature: September 2020) 

LaFargeHolcim Ponders Addition of Carbon Capture Unit to Colorado Plant (Global Construction Review: January 2020)

Hydrogen-Fueled Power Plant: Never Done Before (Los Angeles Times: December 2019)

Solar Energy Breakthrough That Could Allow for Carbon-Free Cement Production (CNN: November 2019)

Alternative Technologies Cement Manufacturing (New York Times: December 2018)

Midlothian Breathe meeting notes and handouts

GOALS_MidloBreathe-Jan2020.pdf

HANDOUTS FROM OUR DECEMBER 5, 2019, PUBLIC MEETING

Health Effects Handout Dec 2019.docx
PollutionSoup-Jan2020.pdf

HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR NOVEMBER 5, 2019, PUBLIC MEETING

Midlothian Breathe Public Meeting 11-5-19.pdf