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Collins TW, Grineski SE, Shaker Y, Mullen CJ. Communities of color are disproportionately exposed to long-term and short-term PM 2.5 in metropolitan America. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2022; 214:114038. [PMID: 35961542 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.114038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2022] [Revised: 08/01/2022] [Accepted: 08/02/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
We conducted a novel investigation of neighborhood-level racial/ethnic exposure disparities employing measures aligned with long-term and short-term PM2.5 air pollution benchmarks across metropolitan contexts of the contiguous United States, 2012-2016. We used multivariable generalized estimating equations (GEE) to quantify PM2.5 exposure disparities based on the census tract composition of people of color (POC) and POC groups (Hispanic/Latina/x/o, Black, Asian). We examined eight census tract-level measures of longer-to-shorter term exposures derived from data on modeled daily ambient PM2.5 concentrations. We found associations between increased POC composition and greater exposure to all PM2.5 measures, with associations strengthening across measures of longer-to-shorter term exposures. In a GEE with a negative binomial distribution, a standard deviation increase in POC composition predicted a 0.6% increase (incidence rate ratio (IRR): 1.006, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.005-1.008) in the number of days PM2.5 concentrations were ≥5 μg/m3 (longest-term benchmark). In a GEE with an inverse Gaussian distribution, a standard deviation increase in POC composition predicted a 0.110 μg/m3 (1.0%) increase (B: 0.110, 95% CI: 0.076-0.143) in mean PM2.5 concentration. In GEEs with a negative binomial distribution, the effect of a standard deviation increase in POC composition on exposure strengthened to 2.6% (IRR:1.026, 95% CI:1.017-1.035), 3.4% (IRR:1.034, 95% CI:1.022-1.047), 4.2% (IRR:1.042, 95% CI:1.025-1.058), 16.2% (IRR:1.162, 95% CI:1.117-1.210), 22.7% (IRR:1.227, 95% CI:1.137-1.325) and 28.3% (IRR:1.283, 95% CI:1.144-1.439) with respect to the number of days PM2.5 concentrations were ≥10, 12, 15, 25, 35 and 55.5 μg/m3. POC group models indicated exposure disparities based on greater Hispanic/Latina/x/o, Asian, and Black composition. Evidence for stronger POC associations with shorter-term (higher concentration) PM2.5 exceedances suggests that reducing PM2.5 would attenuate racial/ethnic exposure disparities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy W Collins
- Department of Geography, University of Utah; 260 Central Campus Dr., Rm. 4625, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA; Center for Natural & Technological Hazards, University of Utah; 260 Central Campus Dr., Rm. 4625, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA.
| | - Sara E Grineski
- Center for Natural & Technological Hazards, University of Utah; 260 Central Campus Dr., Rm. 4625, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA; Department of Sociology, University of Utah; 380 S 1530 E, Rm. 301, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA
| | - Yasamin Shaker
- Center for Natural & Technological Hazards, University of Utah; 260 Central Campus Dr., Rm. 4625, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA; Department of Sociology, University of Utah; 380 S 1530 E, Rm. 301, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA
| | - Casey J Mullen
- Center for Natural & Technological Hazards, University of Utah; 260 Central Campus Dr., Rm. 4625, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA; Department of Sociology, University of Utah; 380 S 1530 E, Rm. 301, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA
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