The Long-term Dynamics of Racial-ethnic Inequality in Neighborhood Air Pollution Exposure, 1990-2009

• In Event: 267 - Section on Sociology of Population Paper Session. Demography and Inequality

Abstract

Understanding racial/ethnic disparities in exposure to neighborhood air pollution is important given evidence of deleterious impacts on health and well-being. Yet past research provides an incomplete picture of environmental inequality. Aggregate-level analyses make it difficult to conceptualize individual-level exposure or assess the roles of micro-level factors that affect differentials in exposure, while individual-level analyses often use rough measures of pollution and focus on either point-in-time estimates or broad pollution trajectories. This study combines individual-level data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics with precise and comprehensive measures of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) in census blocks occupied by respondents at multiple time points across nearly two decades. Multilevel repeated measures models assess racial/ethnic disparities in pollution exposure and identify variations in this exposure across time and metropolitan contexts. Results document substantial racial/ethnic disparities in exposure to pollution at the block level, with blacks and Latinos exposed to significantly higher levels of NO2, PM2.5, and PM10 than whites, even after controlling for individual- and household-level factors that affect residential location. Despite more pronounced declines in average levels of pollution for blacks and Latinos than for whites over time, racial/ethnic disparities in exposure remain even as of the most recent time periods. These racial/ethnic differences in patterns of exposure are largely attributable to group differences in metropolitan context rather than to changes across time for individuals, suggesting persistent, long-term pollution exposure for some individuals which is likely to be more detrimental to health and well-being than shorter doses.

Authors

• Nicole Kravitz-Wirtz, University of Michigan

• Anjum Hajat, University of Washington

• Victoria Sass, University of Washington