The air turned orange鈥攁nd the whole city felt it.
As smoke from Canadian wildfires blanketed New Haven in 2023, it sent fine particle pollution soaring to more than 15 times the normal daily level. The sky turned hazy, health officials urged residents to stay inside, and what once seemed like gradual progress toward cleaner air suddenly felt alarmingly fragile.
New Haven鈥檚 air quality has improved overall in recent years. But the gains aren鈥檛 equally shared鈥攁nd they鈥檙e easily reversed by climate events and policy setbacks. Residents in lower-income areas, often near highways and industrial sites, still breathe some of the dirtiest air in the state.
Dr. Mark Mitchell, a public health physician and founder of the 黑料吃瓜网 Coalition for Environmental Justice, said these disparities are rooted in planning decisions made decades ago.
鈥淗ighways were often built right through Black and Latino neighborhoods,鈥� Dr. Mitchell explained. 鈥淧eople of color are more likely to live near polluting sources like power plants, highways, and airports鈥攁nd they suffer the health consequences.鈥�
He pointed to elevated rates of asthma, cancer, and even neurodevelopmental issues like ADHD and autism鈥攊ssues that emerging science links to long-term pollution exposure.
Government data backs up these concerns. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency鈥檚 Air Quality System, average annual levels of PM2.5 (which stands for fine particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers) in New Haven dropped from 8.6 micrograms per cubic meter in 2015 to 6.2 in 2024鈥攏earing proposed federal health targets.
These particles include tiny bits of pollution from engines, heating systems, wildfires and industrial activity.
But 2023 was a cautionary tale: wildfire smoke pushed the annual average back up to 8.7, a level not seen since the previous decade. Fortunately, by 2024, levels dropped again, thanks in part to shifting weather patterns and fewer fire-related events.
Still, long-term averages hide dangerous seasonal peaks. PM2.5 levels climb in both summer and winter due to vehicle emissions, wildfires, heating fuel, and imported pollution. Ozone levels, which worsen in summer sun, spike most dramatically in July.
For people with preexisting health conditions, these aren鈥檛 just numbers.
Khaoula Boulhadi, a 22-year-old neuroscience student at Southern 黑料吃瓜网 State University and New Haven resident, has lived with asthma since childhood.
鈥淢y asthma gets way worse in the summer,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f the air quality is bad, I stay inside or carry my inhaler everywhere.鈥�
As a neuroscience student, she worries that pollution鈥檚 effects go further than most people realize.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just asthma,鈥� she said. 鈥淧ollution is tied to learning problems, mental health, and even brain development.鈥�
To older residents like Stella Owens, 79, the pollution isn鈥檛 new. Owens still lives on Ella T. Grasso Boulevard, where she grew up.
鈥淵ou鈥檇 wipe your windows, and it was black,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we were breathing.鈥�
She acknowledged that some things have improved, but added: 鈥淛ust because you can鈥檛 see the pollution every day doesn鈥檛 mean it鈥檚 not there.鈥�
Owens remembers the days before catalytic converters and clean air regulations. But the same neighborhoods that once sat beside dirty bus depots and oil furnaces now face new forms of risk鈥攍ike highway truck emissions or wildfire smoke.
Another thing that鈥檚 changed is how clearly those risks can now be measured.
In 2022, New Haven launched a citywide sensor network to track air quality in real time. The sensors confirmed what many residents had long believed: major differences in air pollution exist between neighborhoods.
Fresh data from the summer of 2024 backs this up, showing that some areas still face far worse air than others. Between June and August, publicly available air quality sensors operated by the city showed that average levels of PM2.5 were consistently higher in areas near industrial sites and busy roads.
In the Annex, which borders the port and airport, the average PM2.5 level was about 9.5 micrograms per cubic meter of air. That鈥檚 just below the federal Environmental Protection Agency鈥檚 new annual safety limit of 9. In Fair Haven, a neighborhood near I-91, the average was around 8.0. By comparison, East Rock measured 7.0, and Westville鈥攆arther from traffic and industry鈥攈ad the cleanest readings at about 6.5.
These findings come from the city鈥檚 Engineering Department, which publishes real-time data from 11 low-cost sensors located across New Haven. The sensors are part of a public dashboard available on the city鈥檚 website and through the PurpleAir sensor network.
鈥淧eople deserve to know what they鈥檙e breathing,鈥� Mayor Justin Elicker said at the program鈥檚 launch.
The new data is already helping residents advocate for environmental justice and make informed decisions about their health.
Despite progress, New Haven still records multiple bad air days each summer and remains vulnerable to outside threats like wildfire smoke. For environmental justice communities鈥� like the Hill, Fair Haven, and Dixwell鈥攖he stakes are especially high. These neighborhoods have higher asthma rates and are often closer to highways, rail yards, and polluting facilities.
If nothing changes, those who contribute least to pollution鈥攍ike residents without cars鈥� will continue to suffer the most.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an injustice that people who don鈥檛 even drive are breathing in pollution from the highway they live next to,鈥� Dr. Mitchell said.
The solution won鈥檛 come from one action alone. Advocates say that expanding the city鈥檚 air sensor program, improving public transportation, electrifying buses and trucks, and enforcing clean air regulations are all needed to make sure the city鈥檚 progress continues 鈥� and that no neighborhood is left behind.
Youssef Rafik is a student at Southern 黑料吃瓜网 State University. This story is republished via , a service of the 黑料吃瓜网 Student Journalism Collaborative, an organization sponsored by journalism departments at college and university campuses across the state.
