On-road transportation, including cars, trucks and buses, is one of biggest sources of air pollution in Illinois—especially for communities of color. The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) has a new analysis exploring the impacts of particulate-matter pollution from transportation, and the findings show the urgent needs for policies that clean up transportation. Cook County—home to more than five million people—is the eighth-worst county in the nation for exposure to on-road air pollution, with particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution 90 percent higher than the average county in the continental U.S. In the state of Illinois, communities of color are exposed to considerably higher levels of PM2.5 pollution:

• Asian Americans are exposed at a rate 30 percent higher than the state average.

• African Americans are exposed at a rate 21 percent higher than the state average.

• Latinos are exposed at a rate 19 percent higher than the state average.

• For white residents of Illinois, the average exposure is 13 percent lower than the state as whole.

Particulate matter pollution is one of the most common and dangerous forms of air pollution, as very small particles can enter into the bloodstream through the lungs and cause serious heart and respiratory problems.