Nitrogen isotopes reveal high NO emissions from arid agricultural soils in the Salton Sea Air Basin.

Air quality management commonly aims to mitigate nitrogen oxide (NO) emissions from combustion, reducing ozone (O) and particulate matter (PM) pollution. Despite such ongoing efforts, regulations have recently proven ineffective in rural areas like the Salton Sea Air Basin of Southern California, which routinely violates O and PM air quality standards. With over $2 billion in annual agricultural sales and low population density, air quality in the region is likely influenced by the year-round farming activity.

Air quality and wheeze symptoms in a rural children's cohort near a drying saline lake.

Background: In California, climate change and competing water demands are intensifying the desiccation of the Salton Sea, a large land-locked "sea" situated near the southeastern rural US-Mexico border region known as the Imperial Valley.

Methods: To examine the possible effects of living near a saline lake on children's respiratory health, we analyzed the relationship between respiratory health symptoms and ambient PM concentrations among a predominantly Latino/Hispanic cohort of 722 school age children. Guardians completed a survey of their child's wheeze and respiratory health symptoms over the past 12 months, adapted from the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC).

Exposure to agricultural pesticides and wheezing among 5-12-year-old children in the Imperial Valley, CA, USA.

Background: Exposure to pesticides has been linked to adverse respiratory health outcomes in children.

Methods: We leveraged the Children's Assessing Imperial Valley Respiratory Health and the Environment cohort located in the rural community of Imperial Valley near the US-Mexico border. We calculated the kilograms of total pesticides applied within 400 m of children's residential addresses for the years 2016-2020.

Nitrogen Isotopes Reveal High NO Emissions from Arid Agricultural Soils in the Salton Sea Air Basin.

Air quality management commonly aims to mitigate emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NO) from combustion, reducing ozone and particulate matter pollution. Despite such efforts, regulations have recently proven ineffective in rural areas like the Salton Sea Air Basin of Southern California, which routinely violates air quality standards. With $2 billion in annual agricultural sales and low population density, air quality in the region is likely influenced by year-round farming.