NEWARK — A community group will now be able to monitor the pollution in the air of the largest city in the state, thanks to $150,000 equipment from the Environmental Protection Agency.

The EPA announced today the donation of four air sensors that measure and collect pollution data to the Ironbound Community Corporation Family Success Center. The EPA will also train volunteer members of the group to read the monitors and report on their findings.

"Community-based air monitoring projects like this one make public health a priority and pay multiple dividends," EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said in a release. "We not only gain valuable information, we also help community members gain the skills and experience they need to conduct citizen science projects in their communities to better protect their families."

Though a recent study found that asthma rates are decreasing in Newark, the EPA said about a quarter of children in the Brick City suffer from the condition — about three times as many as the state average. The EPA cited several nearby sources of air pollution affecting the city, like 35 waste-related facilities including the state's largest garbage incinerator, the truck traffic near Ports Elizabeth and Newark, and busy highways and railways.

The monitors will be able to measure nitrogen dioxide concentrations, temperature, humidity, and fine particles in the air, the EPA said. Volunteers will move them around the Ironbound section of the city to measure air quality in different locations, it said.

After the data is collected and analyzed, the ICC will host a community meeting to discuss pollutants of concern, the EPA said.

"The Ironbound neighborhood is a perfect example of the negative environmental and health impacts of industrial pollution," the ICC's Environmental Justice Manager Isella Ramirez said in a statement.

"Citizen science projects that connect local residents to air quality data helps to ignite the community to advocate for health-protective policies at the local, state, and federal levels."

In response to the EPA's announcement, Sierra Club Director Jeff Tittel released a statement praising the donation, but saying that it is not enough to address the environmental concerns in the city.

"We also need a plan in place to reduce the air pollution. The people who live in the Ironbound section of Newark have been impacted by pollution from factories, power plants, incinerators, trucks and traffic, and the airport, and now they will finally have a monitor to prove poor air quality is inequitable and must be addressed," Tittel said in a statement.

"This community based air monitoring project is not a solution for fixing Newark's air quality problem, (it) is simply a way to measure it."

Jessica Mazzola may be reached at jmazzola@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessMazzola. Find NJ.com on Facebook.