An official website of the United States government.

This is not the current EPA website. To navigate to the current EPA website, please go to www.epa.gov. This website is historical material reflecting the EPA website as it existed on January 19, 2021. This website is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work. More information »

Innovation

Building Capacity to Measure Air Pollution Mitigation Strategies at Schools

Building Capacity to Measure Air Pollution Mitigation Strategies at Schools

EPA Region 9, California Air Resources Board, CalFire, Bay Area Air Quality Management District, Oakland Unified School District, Urban ReLeaf, and Higher Ground of Oakland

EPA colleagues and students plant vegetation near Brookfield Elementary SchoolThe EPA and local partners will expand efforts to evaluate the effectiveness of vegetation and noise barriers near Brookfield Elementary School in Oakland, California. 

Research indicates that people spending time near busy roads face elevated risks for certain health problems. Noise and vegetation barriers may help reduce this risk by lowering concentrations of air pollutants. This project will expand efforts to evaluate the effectiveness of vegetation and noise barriers near Brookfield Elementary School in Oakland, California. The school will be able to acquire low cost sensors to monitor air pollution over time as the vegetation matures, and community members, teachers and students will collect and analyze the data. Guidance and educational materials from the project will be useful to other communities as they implement strategies for reducing near-road air pollution exposures at schools.

Project leads: Ken Davidson (Davidson.ken@Epa.gov) and Richard Baldauf (Baldauf.richard@epa.gov)