Wayne County Seeks Environmental Justice through Resident Empowerment

Wayne County, Michigan, is launching a pilot study linking asthma inhalers with air quality monitors to track and better understand how neighborhood-level hyperlocal air pollution affects residents’ health. “We are empowering [residents] with the information they need to make better health-related decisions as part of a broader community-based strategy to embrace the objectives of environmental justice in our fight for cleaner, healthier air," said Warren C. Evans, Wayne County Executive.

Tackling A Serious Air Quality Problem

Detroit and the surrounding region consistently rank among the worst in the world for air quality, and Wayne County has one of Michigan's highest asthma rates. To address these concerning statistics, Wayne County Department of Health, Human & Veterans Services (HHVS) is utilizing the Air Quality Network data as part of the broader Well Wayne Initiative, which includes both fixed and mobile monitor networks. The network was launched in partnership with JustAir, a local business working on community-driven air quality insights.

Kennyle Johnson, HHVS’s interim director, explained that the new program directly responds to residents’ concerns that existing regional air quality data does not reflect their actual exposure. “Community members informed us that local sources, such as trucks and dust, were affecting them daily, but the regional monitors weren’t reflecting this experience,” said Johnson.

Limitations of Traditional Air Quality Monitoring

Traditional monitors provide important air quality data, but they can miss neighborhood hotspots and short-term pollution spikes. This limits their capacity to inform air quality improvements that would help all residents. Fixed monitors collect data at set locations, and at set intervals, but may not identify hyperlocal hotspots depending on the network’s density. Mobile monitors, such as those attached to vehicles, can detect more localized information, but only during the periods they are present. This can result in missing critical pollution-spiking events such as rush hour traffic or commercial and home deliveries.

“Traditional fixed-site monitoring systems do not capture the block-by-block variation in exposure that many of our most impacted neighborhoods face,” Johnson added. “By supporting this study, we saw an opportunity to close that data gap and generate real-time, person-based data that reflects both ambient conditions and health outcomes.”

Commitment to Community Partnerships

Additionally, Johnson wanted to ensure that residents were centered “in the data collection process, enabling a more equitable and transparent approach to environmental health monitoring.” To bring this vision to life, HHVS again turned to JustAir, the partner for HHVS’s initial outdoor air quality monitoring program, which placed 100 fixed devices across Wayne County. According to Johnson, JustAir’s proven track record on community engagement was a main factor in continuing the partnership. For example, JustAir project manager Kristy Allen explained that their pilot programs always begin with local workshops and feedback. Drawing inspiration from case studies such as Air Louisville and programs led by the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, HHVS and JustAir co-designed the Mobile Monitoring Study, with the goal to capture real, person-based experiences with air pollution.

Allen, the project manager who is working with Wayne County and Detroit on the Mobile Monitoring program, outlined the study’s dual goals: 1) empower residents with real-time air quality data to guide personal health choices, and 2) create a robust evidence base for challenging air permits and supporting cumulative impact policies.

The Mobile Monitoring Study

In an interview, Allen explained how the Detroit pilot works. As part of the study, residents with asthma can receive free AtmoTube Pro mobile air quality monitors. These monitors, which are small, phone-sized devices, record air quality every minute. When participants use their inhaler, they activate a Bluetooth button that syncs with an online asthma journal, recording the time, location, and air quality data at the moment of an asthma event. The companion AtmoTube app provides additional air quality information and, if the device is uncharged, can access nearby fixed monitors for updated air quality readings.

Both the HHVS and JustAir team care deeply that this study helps residents better understand how to use this information to make decisions for their health. “Ultimately, we want every Wayne County resident to understand air quality — particularly particulate matter (PM) levels — as clearly as they understand the temperature outside," said Johnson. "Just as it’s important to wear the right winter jacket when it’s cold, it’s equally important for many residents to use proper protection when air quality is poor.”

Johnson shared her desired study outcomes with Data-Smart; in particular, she hopes that participants will begin to visualize the environmental triggers connected to their asthma and inhaler use. Ideally, this prompts behavior changes such as staying indoors during high-pollution periods or advocating for air purifiers in schools and homes. Non-participants will also be able to engage with the study through public-facing data dashboards, which the team hopes will influence more health-based decisions around air quality exposure and greater engagement with environmental initiatives.

Johnson also explained that HHVS aims to use the data to guide resource allocation, target public health interventions, and shape planning decisions, particularly in neighborhoods facing the greatest environmental burden. This kind of person-based monitoring allows policymakers to identify hyperlocal disparities that are often hidden in regional averages and build a stronger evidence base for environmental justice policies. Her team is working with the University of Michigan Environmental Law and Sustainability Clinic on a project that explores how Wayne County’s air quality data can be leveraged to enforce environmental regulations and drive policy reform. This collaboration will help identify legal pathways for holding polluters accountable and ensuring that environmental justice is embedded into governance strategies.

Building a Scalable Model for Community Health and Advocacy

The team sees this study, and the entire Well Wayne Air Quality Network program, as a way to develop, test, and refine new models for community-centered environmental monitoring that can be scaled and replicated in the future. “Ultimately, this kind of person-based air quality data enables us to translate health disparities into environmental accountability, providing a stronger evidence base for policy change and resource prioritization,” said Johnson. After the study's conclusion, HHVS aims to integrate lessons learned to identify where data infrastructure could enhance situational awareness, focusing resources in high-risk or underserved areas.

The JustAir team is excited to partner with residents for this pilot. “[The program] is really built on the belief that when individuals have access to real-time air quality data, they can make more informed decisions with their communities, healthcare providers, and families about how to manage their own health,” said Allen. She also hopes that some of the research findings are used by community members in public comment periods, “where residents and local leaders are able and invited to build arguments to say, 'Hey, we probably shouldn't approve this air permit in this neighborhood because we've seen X number of asthma attacks when air quality is at X level.'”

Allen can see the excitement building in the community to engage in this research and learn how to improve health outcomes. “People seem pretty pumped about it,” she said, “It’s pretty energizing to feel like Santa Claus giving these things away.”

A Vision for a Healthier Future

“Everyone has the right to breathe clean air,” said Evans. “We launched this program to address long-standing environmental health disparities affecting communities across Wayne County because those health disparities need to be erased. For good.”

To participate in this study, which is open to any Wayne County resident diagnosed with asthma and between the ages of 13 and 90, visit the Mobile Air Quality Monitor Program website.