Clean Air Journal

Study: Air Pollution is Deadly

Study: Air Pollution is Deadly

A study recently published in the journal PLOS Medicine confirms what we already know: air pollution is hazardous to human health. Specifically, the authors found that fine particulate matter was responsible for more than 30,000 deaths in the U.S. in 2015, lowering...

More Strong Evidence Linking Air Pollution to Dementia

More Strong Evidence Linking Air Pollution to Dementia

Often, when I read scary articles about air pollution and the frightening effects it has on your and my health, I experience a lot of anxiety...and then proceed to do nothing. I was curious about why this happens and why I (a person who is involved in environmental...

The Consequences of My Consumerism

The Consequences of My Consumerism

One of the hard parts for me about our consumerism driven world is that it is often so easy for me, a privileged middle class white female, to not feel the consequence of my own actions. We’ve known for a long time that minorities, specifically Black and Hispanic...

How Air Pollution Gets Into Our Bodies

How Air Pollution Gets Into Our Bodies

I have to be honest. Until I started reading about air pollution, I didn’t think much about it. I mean, I knew that it was bad in a vague, general kind of way, but my thinking never went past that. Air quality was way too easy to ignore, and it was even easier to...

FAQs About ABC Coke’s Permit: What You Need to Know

FAQs About ABC Coke’s Permit: What You Need to Know

Last fall, the Jefferson County Department of Health posted ABC Coke's Title V pollution permit renewal application. (Title V is just a provision of the Clean Air Act.) We asked for (and received) an extension on the public comment period to allow us and residents of...

Clean Air, Healthy Brains

Clean Air, Healthy Brains

It’s been known for quite some time that polluted air leads to heart and lung problems, and now we are becoming aware that air pollution also has a negative effect on our brains [1]. There is growing evidence that toxic chemicals in our air are linked to disorders...

Volunteer Spotlight: Anna Vantsevich

Volunteer Spotlight: Anna Vantsevich

Every single person is affected by air, either immediately or in the long run. This is the main reason that I chose to get involved with Gasp, the group that believes everyone deserves healthy air.

Katie’s Corner: My First Month Interning at Gasp

Katie’s Corner: My First Month Interning at Gasp

My name is Katie Causey and I am a junior at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. I am majoring in Biomedical Science with a minor in chemistry. My long-term career goal is to become a physician to improve the quality of human health. So far working as one of...

Sunlight is the Best Disinfectant: Trey Glenn Edition

This post focuses on former EPA Region 4 Administrator and former ADEM Director Trey Glenn's alleged involvement in the EPA/Superfund corruption scandal in our "Sunlight is the Best Disinfectant" series.    Today’s spotlight is on Trey Glenn, who until recently...

Hoover High School Bio-Bucs: Testing the Air

Hoover High School Bio-Bucs: Testing the Air

The Hoover High School BioBucs is the Hoover High School environmental science research competition team. They were inspired to monitor the air by Gasp’s documentary Toxic City: Birmingham’s Dirty Secret since Birmingham is so close to home.

Meet Gasp Interns: Gabrielle Gordon

Meet Gasp Interns: Gabrielle Gordon

Meet Gasp Interns: Gabrielle Gordon Gabbi Gordon is a UAB student completing an internship with Gasp through UAB's Academic Small Business Alliance (ASBA) program. Thanks to ASBA for the partnership! What is your major at UAB and why did you choose it? I am majoring...

How a Coke Plant Works

How a Coke Plant Works

Coal is the main ingredient used to make coke. Iron is produced by inputting coal into a blast furnace. However, coal cannot be put directly into a blast furnace because of all the harmful by-products that come from that. So, there is an intermediate process that...

Mayor Randall Woodfin Steps Up for North Birmingham

Mayor Randall Woodfin Steps Up for North Birmingham Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin this week sent a letter to the EPA urging the federal agency to place the North Birmingham Superfund Site on the National Priorities List. The EPA first proposed putting the site on...

Ambient Air Monitoring Plans up for public comment

Ambient Air Monitoring Plans up for public comment

As in previous years, Gasp is submitting comments on the State of Alabama Ambient Air Monitoring Plans. We will provide ways for you to comment and/or sign onto our comments as well. Comments are due June 21, 2018. You can find the draft plans for ADEM and JCDH below....

Frank Stitt’s Secret: Eating from the Earth

Frank Stitt’s Secret: Eating from the Earth

Frank Stitt’s Secret: Eating from the Earth Katie Rogers Katie Rogers is a Birmingham-based writer, feng shui consultant, and filmmaker. You can watch her documentary “CarLess in LA” currently on YouTube). She was happy to attend the E.O. Wilson Lecture with Harvard...

‘It’s Time for Pruitt to Resign, or Be Removed’

Forty national civil rights, labor, conservation and environmental organizations representing millions of members and supporters across the United States have taken out a series of full page ads Wednesday calling for the resignation or firing of EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.