The more the mossier: Using community science to map air quality in environmental justice investigations

Abstract

Concerned about air quality in southcentral Seattle’s Duwamish Valley, community leaders collaborated with USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest (PNW) Research Station to implement a study similar to one in Portland, Oregon, in 2015 that found that urban tree moss indicated the presence of airborne toxic metals.Together, PNW Research Station scientists and community leaders designed a study that not only collected moss samples from this heavily polluted area but also engaged 55 community members, including 25 members of the Duwamish Valley Youth Corps, to do so. The youth corps members collected moss from about 60 locations, mostly in Seattle’s South Park and Georgetown neighborhoods, and prepared them for analysis.The study found concentrations of toxic metals, such as arsenic, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, nickel, and lead, that were significantly higher than in moss collected from other parts of Seattle. Moreover, these concentrations were in an area predominantly inhabited by people of color who are poorer than Seattle’s population as a whole.The results led to an air quality study by the Puget Sound Clean Air Authority and a commitment by the City of Seattle to mitigate pollution in the area. The study also spotlighted the important role that community scientists can play in addressing urban environmental challenges.

Citation

Kirkland, John; Jovan, Sarah; Derrien, Monika. 2023. The more the mossier: Using community science to map air quality in environmental justice investigations. Science Findings 255. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 6p.