As it deteriorates, the ecosystem around the Salton Sea in Riverside County in Southern California, has been creating a toxic environment that hurts the health of children of immigrant families who live and work there, according to researchers.
A 2023 study by the University of California, Riverside, looked at the immigrant population of low-income Hispanic and Indigenous Mexican Hispanic people in communities around the Salton Sea and found that the rate of childhood asthma is 20% to 22.4%, much higher than the California average of 14.5%. The study’s researchers said that the health problems are caused by the dust from the remains of fish that ingested toxic materials from the water in the Salton Sea.
“When I moved to North Shore, I started having problems with one of my children because at a young age, 2 months old, he started having breathing problems,” said Solangel Cruz, a resident of North Shore, California, who works in the agriculture fields. “He got the flu and from the flu he got bronchitis.”