A Multilevel Direct and Indirect effects of White-Latinx Residential Segregation on Neighborhood Air Quality:

• In Event: Environmental Sociology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 13: Environmental Inequality & Toxic Exposure

Abstract

From climate related disasters to poor health, air pollution represents an existential threat to the planet and our communities. Unfortunately, a growing body of work reveals that air toxins are unequally distributed, whereby the poor and ethnoracial minorities bear the brunt of dirty air exposure. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between measures of residential Latino/a(x) segregation and the concentration of toxic greenhouse gases across neighborhoods in West Oakland, California at a hyper local level. Drawing on insights from the Racialize Place Inequality Framework, and high definition air quality data at the Census block and track levels, we ask whether highly segregated Latino/a(x) neighborhoods have worse air quality than more integrated neighborhoods? We also examine whether neighborhood SES mediates the multilevel relationship between segregation and air quality. Results reveal that more segregated neighborhoods have higher levels of black carbon (BC), nitric oxide (NO), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) than more integrated neighborhoods. We conclude by highlighting both the theoretical and policy implications of this study.

Author

• Giovani Burgos, Adelphi University