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. 2019 Mar;11(1):60-67.
doi: 10.1007/s12552-018-9254-0. Epub 2018 Oct 15.

Residential Segregation and Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Ambient Air Pollution

Bongki Woo  1 , Nicole Kravitz-Wirtz  2 , Victoria Sass  3 , Kyle Crowder  3 , Samantha Teixeira  4 , David T Takeuchi  4
Affiliations

Residential Segregation and Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Ambient Air Pollution

Bongki Woo et al. Race Soc Probl. 2019 Mar.

Abstract

Race and ethnicity are consequential constructs when it comes to exposure to air pollution. Persistent environmental racial/ethnic inequalities call for attention to identifying the factors that maintain them. We examined associations between racial residential segregation and racial/ethnic inequalities in exposure to three types of air pollutants. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (1990-2011), the U.S. Census (1990- 2010), and the Environmental Protection Agency, we tested the independent and joint contributions of race/ethnicity and metropolitan-level residential segregation on individual levels of exposure to air pollution nationwide. We found that racial and ethnic minorities were exposed to significantly higher levels of air pollution compared to Whites. The difference between minorities and Whites in exposure to all three types of air pollution was most pronounced in metropolitan areas with high levels of residential segregation. The environmental inequities observed in this study call for public health and policy initiatives to ameliorate the sources of racial/ethnic gaps in pollution exposure. Given the links between the physical environment and health, addressing such uneven environmental burdens may be a promising way to improve population health and decrease racial/ethnic inequalities therein.

Keywords: Air Pollution; Nitrogen Oxides; Particulate Matter; Race and Ethnicity; Residential Segregation.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Neighborhood-Level NO2 Exposure by Different Levels of Residential Segregation
SOURCE Authors’ analysis of data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (1990-2011), Environmental Protection Agency, and U.S. Census (1990-2010). NOTES Low segregation refers to the 10th percentile of the dissimilarity index. High segregation refers to the 90th percentile of the dissimilarity index.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. Racial/Ethnic Differences in the Neighborhood-Level PM10 Exposure by Different Levels of Residential Segregation
SOURCE Authors’ analysis of data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (1990-2011), Environmental Protection Agency, and U.S. Census (1990-2010). NOTES Low segregation refers to the 10th percentile of the dissimilarity index. High segregation refers to the 90th percentile of the dissimilarity index.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.. Neighborhood-Level PM2.5 Exposure by Different Levels of Residential Segregation
SOURCE Authors’ analysis of data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (1990-2011), Environmental Protection Agency, and U.S. Census (1990-2010). NOTES Low segregation refers to the 10th percentile of the dissimilarity index. High segregation refers to the 90th percentile of the dissimilarity index.
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