More than 1,000 communities in the United States are hotspots for toxic air pollution that can cause cancer, according to an extensive new analysis from ProPublica. Over a quarter-million people are living in places with a level of cancer risk higher than what the Environmental Protection Agency says is acceptable, and 74 million Americans have a higher level of risk than what the EPA says it “strives to protect” people from.
ProPublica used an EPA modeling tool to map how carcinogen-laced air spreads from chemical plants across the country. Most areas where people have the highest exposure to that air are in Southern states with weaker environmental regulations, and a quarter of the top 20 hotspots are in Texas. Predominantly Black…