Chronic air pollution from a variety of local sources has made Richmond one of the unhealthier places to breathe in California, according to state health officials. The pollution is so ubiquitous that some local doctors feel frustrated by their inability to prevent respiratory illness, beyond telling patients to limit their exposure to polluted air.
But there are some things that residents can do to better safeguard their health. We compiled a list of resources and more to help Richmonders keep the air inside their homes safe, stay informed about pollution levels in their neighborhoods, and find local healthcare providers who can help residents with respiratory problems.
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The air outside is often bad. The air inside your home doesn’t need to be.
Whether you rent or own, your home is your refuge and the place where you probably spend most of your time. So it’s important to do what you can to ensure the air that you and others breathe inside is safe.
Having strong seals around windows and doors can help protect your space from pollution caused by things such as wildfire smoke, oil refining and other local industrial activities, and daily fumes and debris from nearby interstate highways and roadways.
Air filters or purifiers can also help. High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters can be used in furnaces and other air vent systems in homes, and should typically be replaced every year or so. Portable air filters are also recommended, especially in rooms where children sleep.
Not sure where to begin? Here are some resources to help you fortify your home from pollution:
Contra Costa County has a Weatherization Program for eligible residents — homeowners and renters — that can help with replacing broken windows and exterior doors, among other things. Applications are available on the county’s website or by calling (925) 655-2714.
The county health department has an Asthma Home Remediation program for people enrolled in the Contra Costa Health Plan who have stable housing and asthma that limits their daily activities. The service offers assistance with home improvements like adding dehumidifiers and air filters and minor mold removal and remediation services and ventilation improvements. To see if you qualify, contact Contra Costa Health at 1-877-661-6230 (press 2) between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Breathe California, a nonprofit organization, provides free air purifiers to seniors diagnosed with a respiratory condition such as asthma or COPD, following an in-home air quality assessment. For more information, view their website, email kiran@lungsrus.org or call (408) 998-5865.
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s Clean HEET Program provides grants to help residents replace wood stoves or wood-burning fireplace inserts with electric heat pumps. Grants range from $3,000 to $13,500 for up to two stoves/inserts. The current application deadline has been extended to Sept. 24. Apply here or call 415-749-5195 or email woodsmokegrants@baaqmd.gov for more information.
Medi-Cal recipients diagnosed with poorly controlled asthma can receive portable air filtration units through BAAQMD’s Home Air Filtration Program. Find more information on BAAQMD’s website or by calling 415-749-8461 or emailing airfilters@baaqmd.gov.
The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture provides loans and grants to low-income homeowners and the elderly to remove health and safety hazards in their homes, including improvements to window and door seals to prevent air pollution from seeping in. Apply online.
How to track air quality in your neighborhood
Sometimes it’s obvious when the air is unsafe — like when wildfires turned local skies orange in September 2020, or when a fire at the Chevron Richmond refinery sent plumes of black smoke wafting over the Bay Area in 2012. But much of the time, air pollution goes unseen.
Air monitoring is the main way health officials and residents can track local air pollution levels, and new technologies are making it increasingly easy, even at the neighborhood and block level.
The city of Richmond is doing this now through a partnership with Groundwork Richmond, an organization working with residents to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by increasing the urban canopy and local green spaces. The group is also promoting community air monitoring, and If you live in Richmond you can apply to have a sensor installed at your home by completing their online form.
Several other sensor networks are currently monitoring the air around Richmond, which can help alert you to pollution from wildfires and other sources.
Bay Area Air Quality Management District is the regional entity that uses sensors to track local air quality and enforces regulations on air pollution levels. BAAQMD operates sensors in four distinct regions, and in specific locations within them. Richmond is in the air district’s Coast and Central Bay region and its air is measured by a monitoring system on Rumrill Blvd. in San Pablo. The district’s sensors measure for nine types of air pollution including fine particulate matter, ozone, and black carbon, and publishes new data every hour.
IQ Air is a private air-quality information portal with a global network of air monitors. Their website and mobile app offer real-time air quality index (AQI) readings with air pollution data collected by a network of ground-level air sensors.
Purple Air is a similar network of ground-level sensors that tracks air quality in real time. These are the type of sensors being used by Groundwork Richmond.
Ramboll Shair is the online platform providing local air quality information about the Richmond and San Pablo area using the data from Richmond’s Groundwork sensors.
The Chevron Richmond refinery is required to post real-time readings of chemicals that are emitted beyond its fenceline and three nearby communities: Point Richmond, Atchison Village and North Richmond.
The Richmond Air Quality Network, a project of PSE Healthy Energy, a private research group, shows where pollution has affected air quality around Richmond and San Pablo. The map is no longer being updated — the data used was collected between January 2020 and March 2022 — but it may be useful when considering places to live, work or play, especially if you have a preexisting health condition that makes you vulnerable to air pollution.
There are laws regulating pollution. If you think they’re being broken, you can file a complaint.
The government places legal limits on pollution levels, but that doesn’t mean local businesses are always in compliance. If you’re experiencing or aware of pollution that you think regulators should know about, you can contact the Bay Area Air Quality Management District 24 hours a day by calling 1-800-334-6367 or by submitting a complaint online.
Want to know if the air district has already notified a local business that they’re violating air quality rules? BAAQMD allows you to search violation notices and see who has been fined for violations.
Sign up for emergency alerts
BAAQMD’s Air Quality Incident Notifications can send you alerts via email and text about incidents affecting regional and local air quality that can impact people’s health. Residents can subscribe to get alerts for specific counties. Sign up on the BAAQMD’s website.
Spare the Air alerts let residents know when the air quality dips to unhealthy levels and encourages them to decrease activities that contribute to pollution by driving less or not using wood-burning fireplaces. Sign up via email, text or automated phone calls, or download the Spare the Air app for iPhone or Android.
The Community Warning System is operated by the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office and provides alerts for various types of emergencies, including extreme air pollution, and offers suggested actions such as sheltering in place or avoiding specific areas. It is currently an opt-in system, so users must register for the service, which is only available in English.
Users can receive alerts via text and phone calls, and the system also issues warnings on X (formerly Twitter).
Where to go for care if you have breathing issues
Asthma is a long-term lung disease that causes a person’s airways to become inflamed and narrowed, resulting in chest tightness, coughing, shortness of breath and recurring periods of wheezing, according to Contra Costa Health.
Richmond’s chronic air pollution means more people here have developed asthma or other breathing issues that will require treatment.
Things that can make asthma symptoms worse include allergens like dust and mold, some medicines and infections from a cold, the flu, or COVID. Strenuous physical activity, especially in areas with air pollution, can also worsen asthma symptoms and make people with asthma feel tired or easily out of breath.
Contra Costa Health may be able to help you obtain care for you and/or your children. You can reach them by calling (925) 608-5170 or 1-800-696-9644.
Breathe California is a state initiative to help people with asthma. This includes educational workshops — both live and recorded — and home visits to assess indoor air quality, which include a free air purifier. The program also hosts a weeklong summer day camp for kids ages 6 to 12 focused on training them how to treat their asthma, understand their triggers and stay active.
UCSF regularly has openings for clinical trials for asthma treatments, which may be a way to access new treatments that aren’t available yet.
Local clinics offering asthma care in Richmond include Sutter Health, LifeLong Medical, Brighter Beginnings on Macdonald Avenue and Kaiser Permanente.
Go deeper on air quality in Richmond
To learn more about air quality, the Path to Clean Air is one of the most comprehensive reports ever compiled on sources of air pollution in Richmond and San Pablo. It was produced by the Bay Area air district in partnership with local residents and health experts as part of AB 617, a state law adopted in 2017 that established a Community Air Protection Program to reduce air pollution in California’s most affected places.
What’s fueling Richmond’s air pollution?
This article is part of a series investigating the causes, impacts, and possible solutions to local air pollution. See the full series.
This investigation was supported with funding from the Data-Driven Reporting Project. The Data-Driven Reporting Project is funded by the Google News Initiative in partnership with Northwestern University | Medill. Read our nonprofit’s policy on editorial independence.
We want to hear from you
Got a tip or personal story to share about air pollution and its impacts in Richmond? Email us at hello@richmondside.org, leave us a voice message at (510) 239-7413, or use our tips form.
