Social Disparities in Exposure to Noise at Public Schools in the Contiguous United States

• In Event: 2251 - Section on Environmental Sociology Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 9. Environmental inequality 1

Abstract

Children are vulnerable to environmental hazards and spend significant portions of their days at school. However, just one national-level study has examined school-level environmental inequalities (in air pollution exposures), and none have examined disparate exposures to high noise levels, even though noise impacts children’s health and development. We integrated data on the locations and socio-demographics of each public school in the contiguous US (n=94,432) with road and aviation transportation noise estimates. Using bivariate and multivariate statistics, we tested for disparities in road and aviation noise exposure across schools. Among the 49,697,890 children attending contiguous US public schools, we found that those attending “high risk” schools for road noise or aviation noise were significantly more likely to be eligible for free/reduced price meals (economically deprived), and to be Hispanic, black, or Asian/Pacific Islander (API). They were less likely to be white or of another race. In multivariate generalized estimating equations controlling for school district effects, we found that schools with greater proportions of Hispanic, black or API students, schools with higher enrollment, and schools serving the youngest students had significantly more road noise and greater odds of aviation noise exposure. Economic deprivation was not related to road noise but exhibited a non-linear association with aviation noise, with the likelihood of aviation noise increasing more steeply as the proportion of economically-deprived students increased. Overall, our analyses indicate that America’s racial/ethnic minority children bear the brunt of transportation noise exposures at school, which may unequally impact their academic performance, health, and future potential.

Authors

• Timothy William Collins, University of Utah

• Sara Elizabeth Grineski, University of Utah

• Shawna Nadybal, University of Utah