ProPublica has a first-of-its-kind interactive map to show cancer-causing air pollution up close; rural areas have some

Overall map of carcinogenic air pollution hot spots. Click here for the interactive version, including features on the 20 worst.

ProPublica reports, "Air pollution from industrial plants is elevating the cancer risk of an estimated quarter of a million Americans to a level the federal government considers unacceptable," but many people don't know they're living in such areas.

So, ProPublica undertook a first-of-its-kind analysis to develop a map showing where more than 1,000 places where polluters spread carcinogenic chemicals through the air from 2014 to 2018. "The result is an unparalleled view of how toxic air blooms around industrial facilities and spreads into nearby neighborhoods," ProPublica reports. Click here for the interactive map.

Former Environmental Protection Agency scientist Wayne Davis told ProPublica after reviewing its map: "The public is going to learn that EPA allows a hell of a lot of pollution to occur that the public does not think is occurring." The story was reported and written by Lylla Younes, Ava Kofman, Al Shaw, Lisa Song and Maya Miller.

Almost all the top 20 hotspots are in Southern states that have weaker pollution laws, and about a quarter are in Texas. The analysis says ethylene oxide is the biggest contributor to cancer risk. "Corporations across the United States, but especially in Texas and Louisiana, manufacture the colorless, odorless gas, which lingers in the air for months and is highly mutagenic, meaning it can alter DNA," ProPublica reports.