Climate, Air Pollution, and Pregnancy Study

Climate change is increasing exposure to air pollution, extreme heat, and humidity in many communities throughout the United States. As exposures increase, so do the risks to public health—particularly for vulnerable populations. Contra Costa County in Northern California is home to communities that are disproportionately burdened by environmental and economic stressors. In recent years, Contra Costa County has experienced an increase in climate-related exposures, including the frequency and intensity of extreme heat and poor air quality from wildfire smoke.

The Contra Costa County Climate, Air Pollution, and Pregnancy Study (CC-CAPPS) is a multi-year research effort examining climate-related exposures, specifically air pollution and extreme heat, in Contra Costa County. The study includes mapping climate vulnerability, estimating the effect of air pollution and heat exposures during pregnancy and birth outcomes, and characterizing potential community-led interventions. Researchers will also assess potential impacts of heat and air pollution on birth outcomes, which have the potential to influence morbidity of the next generation. The study is conducted in partnership between PSE Healthy Energy and the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health, and funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

To address community-identified air quality monitoring gaps, PSE researchers expanded the Richmond Air Monitoring Network (RAMN) into East Contra Costa. PSE combined these hyper-local data from the expanded RAMN network with additional publicly-available data sourced from low-cost PurpleAir monitors throughout the county. This combination of air monitoring data allowed researchers to more comprehensively characterize long-term and acute local air pollution exposures.

The researchers then incorporated additional data on weather, demographic, and the built environment to assess disparities in air pollution and heat exposures and identify the areas and populations most likely to experience elevated risk from these environmental hazards. Finally, through literature review and a community listening session, PSE researchers identified a suite of potential interventions to mitigate these exposures and developed a framework of key considerations to support effective intervention selection and design.

In another phase of work led by the University of California’s Berkeley School of Public Health, researchers will examine the relationship between local disparities in air pollution and heat exposures to birth outcomes in the region, such as low birthweight and preterm births.

Publication

Our report, titled “Mapping Climate Vulnerability and Air Pollution in Contra Costa County: Identifying Hot Spots and Targeting Interventions,” synthesizes PSE’s findings generated over the course of this multi-year project. Additional resources, including an English and Spanish fact sheet, are linked below.