New Mexico
Study finds industrial air pollution contributes to New Mexico’s low birthweight
Babies born with weights less than 5 lbs 8 ounces (2,500 grams), can face a host of health challenges and an increased risk for chronic health problems like diabetes and heart disease later in life. Now, for the first time, researchers at The University of New Mexico have linked industrial air pollution to the state’s above-average rates of babies born with low birthweight in a study published in the Journal of Environmental Management.
About one in 12 babies in the United States is born with low birthweight, but in New Mexico, the rate is nearly one in 10, according to March of Dimes. While the connection between low birth weight and air pollution has been researched before in other places, the study, “Industrial air pollution and low birth weight in New Mexico, U.S.,” is the first of its kind in New Mexico. The study examined the relationship between industrial emissions that mothers were exposed to at their residential locations while pregnant and the weight of their babies at birth.
The research team included members of the UNM Department of Geography and Environmental Studies: Assistant Professor Xi Gong, Ph.D. Candidate Yanhong Huang, and Associate Professor Yan Lin; as well as Jenny Duong from New Mexico Department of Health; Assistant Professor Shuguang Leng from UNM Department of Internal Medicine; Professor F. Benjamin Zhan from Texas State University; Professor Yan Guo from University of Miami; and Associate Professor Li Luo from UNM Department of Internal Medicine.
The team used data from the New Mexico Department of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency in an emission weighted proximity model to quantify exposure intensity by home address. They analyzed New Mexico birth certificates from 2008 to 2017, which included 233,340 babies with normal birth weight and 22,375 babies with low birth weight (defined as less than 2500 grams in the study). Researchers also compared information on demographic and medical factors between both groups for the analysis.
“We wanted to find out if industrial air pollution is a risk factor for low birthweight in New Mexico and we were able to identify five air pollutants that show significant positive associations to low birthweight,” Huang said.
Low birth weight can contribute to the development of diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, developmental disabilities, metabolic syndrome and obesity later in life. It can also create immediate challenges for babies like retinopathy, and problems with breathing and digestion, according to March of Dimes.
The study relied on annual emissions data from the EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory Program, which requires industrial facilities in the U.S. to submit detailed emissions reports each year, and air quality monitoring data from the EPA’s Air Quality System DataMart to determine the amounts of air pollutants pregnant people were exposed to.
Researchers discovered that residential exposures to several pollutants during pregnancy had positive associations with low birthweight in babies: 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, benzene, chlorine, ethylbenzene, and styrene. Each of the pollutants is the result of industrial operations and the researchers found that the closer pregnant people lived to facilities generating those pollutants, the more likely they were to have a baby with low birthweight.
While many of the pollutants have been identified as contributors to low birthweight in previous studies, this study identified 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene for the first time. The publication is the first individual-based study conducted over a long period in New Mexico that examines the effects of air pollution on low birthweight.
The study found that emissions were largely concentrated in the northwest region, southeast region and Albuquerque area. Researchers suggest further research should emphasize the southeastern part of the state, which is close to more than 50 industrial facilities in Texas that emit the five chemicals identified in the study.
“We hope these results can be used to help the public and government officials better understand the environmental risks of industrial air pollutants,” Gong said. Gong and Huang will next work on a similar study focused on industrial air pollution and cancer rates in New Mexico.
More information:
Xi Gong et al, Industrial air pollution and low birth weight in New Mexico, USA, Journal of Environmental Management (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119236
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New Mexico
Running hot and cold: New Mexico runners earn 17 All American awards at national XC championships
YOUTH SPORTS
Gianna Chavez earns fourth in boys 8-and-under race
New Mexico had 17 athletes earn All American awards at the 2025 National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championship meet held Saturday at snowy Blue River Cross Country Course in Shelbyville, Indiana.
Gianni Chavez, of Albuquerque Athletics Track, earned his fourth USA Track & Field All American award with a fourth place finish in the 8-and-under boys 2K race. Chavez, an Osuna Elementary third-grader, ran his 2K race in a personal best time of 7 minutes, 44.9 seconds.
The top 25 individual finishers and top three teams earn USATF All American awards.
The Cougar Track Club 8U girls team, based out of Albuquerque, placed second and was led by Antonette Marquez, who finished 12th. Other CTC 8U girls team members include Kimberly Reed (31st), Viola Crabbe Maple (55th), Payton Pacheco (61st), Chloe Chino (85th), Emery Grieco (113th) and Zay’a Cheromiah (149th).
Others individual All American award winners include Ava Denton, of AAT, 16th in 13/14 girls 4K; Brynlee Reed, of CTC, 22nd in 15/16 girls 5K; Sihasin Fleg, of Running Medicine, 21st in 8U girls 2K; Eden Pino, of Running Medicine, 12th in 9/10 girls 3K; Nizhoni Fleg, of Running Medicine, 14th in 17/18 girls 5K; Brady Garcia, of Running Medicine, seventh in 17/18 boys 5K; Justice Jones, of Zia, 14th in 9/10 girls 3K; Emilo Otero Soltero, of Dukes Track Club, 12th in 9/10 boys 3K; Miles Gray, unattached, 21st in 9/10 boys 3K.
Also Saturday, at the Brooks Cross Country Nationals in San Diego, Eldorado’s Gianna Rahmer placed 17th in the girls championship 5K with a time of 18:00.7 and Moriarty’s Carmen Dorsey-Spitz placed 25th 18:09.4.
El Paso police seek suspect in East Side robbery, burglary
An unidentified man is suspected in an East Side robbery and a restaurant burglary on Oct. 20, 2025, in Crime Stoppers of El Paso’s Crime of the Week.
Provided by Crime Stoppers of El Paso
An Anthony, New Mexico man was sentenced to nearly two decades in federal prison for selling methamphetamine from a trailer on his parents’ property, authorities said.
A federal judge sentenced David Amaya, 43, to 19 years and seven months in prison on one count of possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, New Mexico federal court records show. He was also sentenced to five years of supervised release after he serves his prison term.
U.S. District Judge Margaret I. Strickland handed down the sentence on Wednesday, Dec. 10, at the federal courthouse in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Williams prosecuted the case.
Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico Ryan Ellison and FBI Albuquerque Field Office Special Agent in Charge Justin A. Garris announced Amaya’s sentencing in a joint news release.
Amaya pleaded guilty to the charge in September as part of a plea agreement that dismissed one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, court records show.
Anthony, New Mexico man sells meth on parents’ property
FBI agents began investigating Amaya after he sold methamphetamine to a “controlled buyer” in July and August 2024, the news release states. Controlled buys are when law enforcement uses an undercover agent or a witness to purchase drugs from a suspected drug dealer.
The agents obtained a search warrant on Aug. 22, 2024, for a “specific tow-behind type trailer that Amaya was known to be living in and conducting narcotics transfers out of,” a federal complaint affidavit states. The trailer was located on property owned by Amaya’s parents in Anthony, New Mexico, the news release states.
The trailer did not have a restroom, but agents found a small makeshift bathroom structure with a porta-potty inside next to the trailer. The agents then obtained a warrant to also search the small bathroom structure.
The agents found “a large quantity of white crystalline substance suspected to be methamphetamine” throughout the trailer and bathroom structure, the affidavit states. In the bathroom, agents found a clothing hamper with “a gallon zip lock bag full of suspected methamphetamine” hidden inside.
Agents found a black Ruger .357 caliber handgun containing five rounds of .357 caliber ammunition and a black Mossberg 500 E410 gauge shotgun on the bed inside the trailer, the affidavit states. The news release states agents found “hundreds of rounds of ammunition.”
They also found about 4.42 grams of methamphetamine on the bed and another 26 grams under the bed, the affidavit states. Agents found eight more grams of methamphetamine on a nightstand.
Amaya told agents during an interview that the methamphetamine was his, he had acquired it over a period of time, and did not realize how much it was, the affidavit states. He added he “needed the guns for protection, so people would know he has them, making him safer,” the affidavit states.
In total, the agents found 1,183 grams of methamphetamine.
Aaron Martinez covers the criminal justice system for the El Paso Times. He may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com.
GRANTS, N.M. – The City of Grants is canceling this year’s annual Christmas light parade, citing the safety of the public and their own officers.
Dozens of floats were supposed to roll down Santa Fe Avenue on Saturday night, but Grants police are holding off until next year after three incidents where someone shot at law enforcement officers.
“It was definitely a difficult decision, but due to the incident that took place on December 8, where law enforcement was shot at in the area of Santa Fe Avenue, we made that decision to protect the citizens of Grants,” says Grants Police Chief Maxine Monte.
She says a New Mexico State Police officer was shot at while making a traffic stop. The officer walked away uninjured, but this was too much for the chief.
“We’ve had three different incidents where law enforcement was shot at. One was May of 2025, the other one was August of 2025, and then the recent event of December 8 of 2025,” says Monte.
It’s not a risk the chief wants to take, and points out people would be standing exactly where the last shooting happened.
“We have a lot of citizens that attend our parade, and our main concern was that they were out in the open in the middle of the night, and in the same area that our latest shooting took place.”
Grant residents will be able to see the floats during the day on Saturday. But even some daylight isn’t convincing some residents.
“I’ll be staying home,” said Amy Brigdon. “There’s too many people in the world that want to see bad things happen to other people. I’m not one of them.”
Police still don’t have a suspect for this week’s attempted shooting. Anyone with information is asked to get in touch with the Grants Police Department.
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