People who live in San Diego's South Bay may be exposed to levels of toxic sewer gas —as much as 70 times higher than state air-quality standards — for hours at a time.

That's according to new research that confirms sewage from Mexico pollutes far more than the ocean off Imperial Beach and other South Bay communities. Hydrogen sulfide, which can cause headaches, nausea, respiratory problems and other symptoms, comes from the Tijuana River and can be found in alarming amounts in the air that many South Bay residents breathe.

"For the first time, we’ve shown that poor water quality can profoundly degrade air quality, exposing entire communities to toxic gases and other pollutants," said Kimberly Prather, an atmospheric chemist at U.C. San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography and l

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