IMPERIAL BEACH, Calif. (KGTV) — New numbers from UC San Diego's Airborne Institute are showing a grim reality for people in the South Bay as hydrogen sulfide readings climb to dangerous levels.
Some recent readings came in at 150 times the state's safety standards. The state's limit is 30 parts per billion. The last time the university recorded measurements this high was in September 2024.
"Once they got there, they quickly spiked," San Diego State Environmental Professor Dr. Paula Granados said back in 2024. "They were in the range of nine to 12 parts per million of hydrogen sulfide on all of these. And so at those levels, this is whenever you start to see dangerous health conditions."
Symptoms of exposure can include headaches, nausea, and nose and throat irritation.
With numbers climbing to "dangerous" levels again, it has become a breaking point for some people living with the South Bay sewage stench. The situation is pushing long-time Imperial Beach resident Sonia Mayorga and her husband out of their home.
"We have a beautiful home, with my family over there, we can't go back because it's so toxic," Mayorga said. "I literally wanna cry. I wanna go back and I can't,"
Sonia says she and her husband experience severe symptoms caused by hydrogen sulfide exposure when they are home in Imperial Beach. As soon as they leave, their symptoms go away. She's considering moving out of the South Bay completely because of the toll the sewage is taking on them.
"Our bodies can't handle it, so we have to be out," Mayorga said. We go back a couple of days, and then we have to leave".
The high readings hit a new peak in the decades-long issue plaguing the South Bay. District 1 Supervisor Paloma Aguirre shared some of the recent readings from UC San Diego on social media.
According to the chart, on April 5th, hydrogen sulfide levels overnight stayed above the state's safety standards of 30 parts per billion for the first time.
"It's a milestone nobody wants," Aguirre said. "We're entering a new era of crisis".
At one point on Sunday, April 12, readings from the Airborne Institute came in at over 2000 parts per billion. UC San Diego Professor Dr. Kimberly Prather says these readings are higher than what would be seen at wastewater treatment plants.
"That's kind of the closest analog, you know, but this is higher," Prather said. "These levels are levels that workers in wastewater treatment plants put on all their PPE and walk around, right? The community doesn't have that".
Prather added that hydrogen sulfide is just one of the thousands of different harmful gases they have detected.
"I've never had so many people in the community essentially begging for help. It's really, really, a very sad and troubling situation that has to end," Prather said.
Prather recently penned a letter on Facebook to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, calling for him to declare a state of emergency over an air quality crisis.
"What my research team has documented through continuous, rigorous atmospheric monitoring represents an air quality crisis with no parallel anywhere else in the United States," Prather wrote. "The link to health damage on people and the environment is proven... You have the power and the authority. Please use it — before you leave office,"
As Prather pushes for the current administration to act, Supervisor Aguirre is working ahead with some of the candidates for governor.
Aguirre recently met with four of them, including Tom Steyer, Matt Mahan, Katie Porter, and Betty Yee. All of them are committing to declaring a state of emergency if elected. Aguirre said she is taking these commitments seriously and plans to meet with more of the gubernatorial candidates looking for this same commitment.
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