Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Apr 28;7(18):eabf4491.
doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abf4491. Print 2021 Apr.

PM2.5 polluters disproportionately and systemically affect people of color in the United States

Christopher W Tessum  1 , David A Paolella  2 , Sarah E Chambliss  3 , Joshua S Apte  4   5 , Jason D Hill  6 , Julian D Marshall  2
Affiliations

PM2.5 polluters disproportionately and systemically affect people of color in the United States

Christopher W Tessum et al. Sci Adv. .

Abstract

Racial-ethnic minorities in the United States are exposed to disproportionately high levels of ambient fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5), the largest environmental cause of human mortality. However, it is unknown which emission sources drive this disparity and whether differences exist by emission sector, geography, or demographics. Quantifying the PM2.5 exposure caused by each emitter type, we show that nearly all major emission categories-consistently across states, urban and rural areas, income levels, and exposure levels-contribute to the systemic PM2.5 exposure disparity experienced by people of color. We identify the most inequitable emission source types by state and city, thereby highlighting potential opportunities for addressing this persistent environmental inequity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Source contributions to racial-ethnic disparity in PM2.5 exposure.
(A to E) Individual source type (n = 5434 source types) contributions to exposure (y axis) and % exposure disparity (x axis, truncated at 200%, positive values are shaded red, negative values are shaded blue), with dashed lines denoting percent exposure caused by sources with positive exposure disparity. (F to J) Sources in (A) to (E) grouped into source sectors (n = 14 groups) and ranked vertically according to absolute exposure disparity, proportional to the area of each rectangle. As shown in (B), POC experience greater-than-average exposures from source types causing 75% of overall exposure. Source: data file S1, which also includes results for individual states and urban areas.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Percent of PM2.5 exposure caused by emission source types that disproportionately expose people of color (POC) and Whites.
Data shown for (A) U.S. states (n = 48 states), (B) urbanized areas (n = 481 areas), (C) rural areas in each state (n = 48 states), and (D) income bins (n = 16 bins; last bin is >$200,000). Icon area is proportional to population; shaded areas are kernel density estimates. A y axis value of 50% would represent equity for that group (i.e., for the population-average exposure), meaning that half of their exposure comes from source types that disproportionately expose them and the other half is from source types that expose them less than average. Across geographies and levels of exposure (A to C), as well as incomes (D), most emission sources consistently result in higher exposures for POC and lower exposures for Whites. Source: data file S2.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. Percent of PM2.5 exposure caused by emission source types that disproportionately expose each racial-ethnic group by location and race-ethnicity.
Icon area is proportional to population; shaded areas are kernel density estimates. This figure is analogous to Fig. 2 but with results for all five racial-ethnic groups. Source: data file S2.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), GBD Compare Data Visualization, accessed December 10, 2018; http://ghdx.healthdata.org/gbd-results-tool.
    1. Burnett R., Chen H., Szyszkowicz M., Fann N., Hubbell B., Pope C. A. III, Apte J. S., Brauer M., Cohen A., Weichenthal S., Coggins J., di Q., Brunekreef B., Frostad J., Lim S. S., Kan H., Walker K. D., Thurston G. D., Hayes R. B., Lim C. C., Turner M. C., Jerrett M., Krewski D., Gapstur S. M., Diver W. R., Ostro B., Goldberg D., Crouse D. L., Martin R. V., Peters P., Pinault L., Tjepkema M., van Donkelaar A., Villeneuve P. J., Miller A. B., Yin P., Zhou M., Wang L., Janssen N. A. H., Marra M., Atkinson R. W., Tsang H., Quoc Thach T., Cannon J. B., Allen R. T., Hart J. E., Laden F., Cesaroni G., Forastiere F., Weinmayr G., Jaensch A., Nagel G., Concin H., Spadaro J. V., Global estimates of mortality associated with long-term exposure to outdoor fine particulate matter. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 115, 9592–9597 (2018). - PMC - PubMed
    1. Pope C. A. III, Dockery D. W., Health effects of fine particulate air pollution: Lines that connect. J. Air Waste Manage. Assoc. 56, 709–742 (2006). - PubMed
    1. Crouse D. L., Peters P. A., van Donkelaar A., Goldberg M. S., Villeneuve P. J., Brion O., Khan S., Atari D. O., Jerrett M., Pope C. A., Brauer M., Brook J. R., Martin R. V., Stieb D., Burnett R. T., Risk of nonaccidental and cardiovascular mortality in relation to long-term exposure to low concentrations of fine particulate matter: A Canadian national-level cohort study. Environ. Health Perspect. 120, 708–714 (2012). - PMC - PubMed
    1. Brook R. D., Rajagopalan S., Pope C. A. III, Brook J. R., Bhatnagar A., Diez-Roux A. V., Holguin F., Hong Y., Luepker R. V., Mittleman M. A., Peters A., Siscovick D., Smith S. C. Jr., Whitsel L., Kaufman J. D.; American Heart Association Council on Epidemiology and Prevention, Council on the Kidney in Cardiovascular Disease, and Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism , Particulate matter air pollution and cardiovascular disease: An update to the scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation 121, 2331–2378 (2010). - PubMed

Publication types