What is the Breathe Baltimore Project? 

Breathe Baltimore is a community-based research project addressing air quality issues in Baltimore. The project is a collaborative effort and co-led by the Environmental Justice Journalism Initiative (EJJI) and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC).

The project’s goal is to create a low-cost air quality monitoring network that can provide data to support communities suffering from poor air quality in South Baltimore. 

We're currently in the first phase of setting up and testing 15 sensors—most are in South Baltimore with others around the city. These sensors will measure particulate pollution, ozone, and other emissions, and the data will be made available to the public. 

One sensor has been deployed, testing is underway, and the additional 14 sites are still being selected. SERC and EJJI are committed to choosing sites relevant to Baltimore communities and understanding city pollution patterns.

Why study air quality in South Baltimore? 

Community partners in South Baltimore are concerned about their air quality, which is a critical environmental health risk.

Baltimore has only one permanent EPA air quality monitoring station located in the higher-income Lake Montebello neighborhood. Air quality varies across small areas, much like weather patterns. For example in the Cherry Hill neighborhood air pollution (caused by small particulates and ozone) and Air Toxics Cancer Risk is higher than most of the state of Maryland (EPA EJScreen Report, 2023).