DENVER — There's a new initiative to combine air quality monitoring with healthcare services at the Tepeyac Community Health Center. Now, outside the facility is a new air monitor for the community and an educational kiosk inside, so more patients can understand local air quality and its impact on their health.
The idea behind this is for patient to check real-time air quality data and directly discuss any health concerns with their doctors. The information is categorized by age groups, including older adults and children.
The Denver Department of Public Health and Environment (DDPHE) said this kind of information is crucial because research has shown a connection between short-term exposure to elevated air pollution levels and respiratory issues, asthma, and cardiac problems and an increase in emergency room visits.
The city collaborated with the group Love My Air. Kaiser’s health fund contributed $400,000. Tepeyac is the first to get the air monitor and next up is the Inner City Health and Kaiser’s east Denver Medical offices.
"We really wanted to choose parts of town that have been historically experiencing environmental justice issues, and so parts of town where there’s higher asthma rates, or parts of town where people are more exposed to air pollution," Nancy Fitzgerald with Love My Air said. "It was important for us to make sure that this information goes directly to the people that need it most."
Fitzgerald said climate change also makes projects like this more important. She said air quality was improving since the Clean Air Act, but that some air pollution started to worsen since 2016 because of wildfires and other climate impacts.
Love My Air has a network of air monitors in several spots around Colorado.
You can use download the Love My Air app for more data on air quality around the state.
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