"Javier Sepulveda watches the cockroaches skitter across the floor of his Harlem apartment with a mixture of anger and angst. For him they are more than just a nauseating nuisance: They’re one of the main reasons his 12-year-old daughter, Melissa, sometimes struggles to breathe with the scary sensation that she’s suffocating."

"Like many others living in low-income neighborhoods, Sepulveda has discovered that his home is implicated in his daughter’s asthma—and that there’s little he can do about it, a Dateline investigation, part of the year-long NBC News "In Plain Sight" poverty reporting initiative, found.

Not long ago scientists noticed a link between poverty and asthma. Now they’re starting to discover that where you live plays a big role in explaining the connection. From dilapidated and deteriorating housing to smog-choked outside air, impoverished inner-city neighborhoods are a breathing hazard for both young and old."

Linda Carroll reports for NBC News January 3, 2014. [2]