Temporal trends in air pollution exposure inequality in Massachusetts

Journal Article · Thu Feb 15 04:00:00 EST 2018 · Environmental Research

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/J.ENVRES.2017.10.028· OSTI ID:23100689

Rosofsky, Anna; Levy, Jonathan I. ^[1]; Zanobetti, Antonella ^[2]; Janulewicz, Patricia; Fabian, M. Patricia ^[1]

---

1. Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA (United States)
2. Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA (United States)

Highlights: • We characterized longitudinal PM{sub 2.5} and NO{sub 2} inequality trends across Massachusetts. • Exposure inequality increased in urban, but not rural areas. • NO{sub 2} exposure inequality was greater in magnitude than PM{sub 2.5} inequality. • Observed inequality trends likely driven by spatiotemporal pollution shifts. Mounting evidence over the past several decades has demonstrated inequitable distribution of pollutants of ambient origin between sociodemographic groups in the United States. Most environmental inequality studies to date are cross-sectional and used proximity-based methods rather than modeled air pollution concentrations, limiting the ability to examine trends over time or the factors that drive exposure inequalities. In this paper, we use 1 km{sup 2} modeled PM{sub 2.5} and NO{sub 2} concentrations in Massachusetts over an 8-year period and Census demographic data to quantify inequality between sociodemographic groups and to develop a more nuanced understanding of the drivers and trends in longitudinal air pollution inequality. Annual-average population-weighted PM{sub 2.5} and NO{sub 2} concentrations were highest for urban non-Hispanic black populations (11.8 µg/m{sup 3} in 2003 and 8.4 µg/m{sup 3} in 2010, vs. 11.3 µg/m{sup 3} and 8.1 µg/m{sup 3} for urban non-Hispanic whites) and urban Hispanic populations (15.9 ppb in 2005 and 13.0 ppb in 2010, vs. 13.0 ppb and 10.2 ppb for urban non-Hispanic whites), respectively. While population groups experienced similar absolute decreases in exposure over time, disparities in population-weighted concentrations increased over time when quantified by the Atkinson Index, a relative inequality measure. Exposure inequalities were approximately one order of magnitude greater for NO{sub 2} compared to PM{sub 2.5}, were more pronounced in urban compared to rural geographies, and between racial/ethnic groups compared to income and educational attainment groups. Our results also revealed similar longitudinal PM{sub 2.5} and NO{sub 2} inequality trends using Census 2000 and Census 2010 data, indicating that spatio-temporal shifts in air pollution may best explain observed trends in inequality. These findings enhance our understanding of factors that contribute to persistent inequalities and underscore the importance of targeted exposure reduction strategies aimed at vulnerable populations and neighborhoods.

• OSTI ID: 23100689
• Journal Information: Environmental Research, Journal Name: Environmental Research Vol. 161; ISSN ENVRAL; ISSN 0013-9351
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AIR POLLUTION
CONCENTRATION RATIO
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
MINORITY GROUPS
NITROGEN DIOXIDE
POLLUTANTS
RURAL AREAS