ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM
New UNC study quantifies disparity among minority communities exposed to traffic-related air pollution across the U.S.
Traffic-related air pollution is a pervasive problem across the United States. Vehicle emissions are highest near major roadways with around 19% of the U.S. population living in the vicinity of a major roadway. In more densely populated states, like California, up to 40% live near a major roadway. Exposure to these pollutants, such as fine particulate matter (PM2.5 ) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a byproduct of burning fossil fuel, can lead to a host of health effects including premature death. Minority communities often live along these corridors and experience disproportionate exposures.
A new study by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill estimates minority communities within 100 meters of a major roadway are exposed to up to 15% more PM2.5 and up to 35% more NO2 than white communities from traffic-related air pollution. The study was published today in PLOS ONE.
“This is the first time that a nation-wide estimate of health risk due to both PM2.5 and NO2 is made for every census block in the entire nation using a very sophisticated hybrid modeling approach that accounts for model biases. We use this very high-resolution estimate of health risk to quantify exposure inequalities,” says Saravanan Arunachalam, corresponding author of the study, and research professor and deputy director at the UNC Institute for the Environment.
Using a novel hybrid data fusion model, the research team was able to generate a more accurate assessment of the health risks of these pollutants compared to previous studies at a census block resolution across the more than 11 million census blocks in the United States. Their model estimates 264,516 premature deaths from PM2.5 and 138,550 from NO2 due to all sources in the U.S.
“Our research confirms that all communities residing within 100 meters of major roads experience elevated levels of PM2.5 and NO2. However, our findings also highlight an important disparity in exposure between white communities and minority communities within this proximity. Specifically, vulnerable minority communities face a greater burden of pollutants, resulting in a higher risk for adverse health outcomes,” says Alejandro Valencia, M.S. ’09, Ph.D. ’21, a co-author and former Ph.D. student in the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and former graduate research assistant at the UNC Institute for the Environment.
The hybrid model allowed the research team to assess communities at a high resolution, layered with census and health data, which provided both quantification and visualization of the pervasive and disproportionate exposure of minority communities. They also could see how changes in modeled resolution can contribute to the inequality, providing key insights for developing mitigation strategies.
“Our results reveal that significant exposure inequities can occur within areas as small as a county, or even within a census tract,” says co-author Marc Serre, an associate professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering in UNC’s Gillings School of Global Public Health. “Detecting these small areas, and visualizing their exposure inequities, provides critical new insight to inform and prioritize remediation strategies.”
The research team is hopeful this new approach can help in identifying vulnerable populations, quantifying exposure and preventing misclassification of exposures going forward.
“Most of the air pollution related health risk studies focus on PM2.5. Our novel analytical approach adds new estimates for NO2 to the health burden and supports additional motivation to move away from fossil fuel-based combustion sources of air pollution to protect public health,” says Arunachalam.
About the UNC Institute for the Environment
The UNC Institute for the Environment (IE) develops multidisciplinary collaborations to understand major environmental issues and engage myriad academic disciplines, public and private partners, and an informed and committed community. Through IE’s air and water research centers, its public service and outreach, sustainability initiatives, and field sites and experiential education programs, the IE provides interdisciplinary forums for faculty, students and community partners to meet pressing environmental challenges.
JOURNAL
PLoS ONE
ARTICLE TITLE
A hyperlocal hybrid data fusion near-road PM2.5 and NO2 annual risk and environmental justice assessment across the United States
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
1-Jun-2023
Salton Sea environment detrimental to
respiratory health of local children
UC Riverside-led study focuses on caregivers’ take on how the sea affects their children’s health
Peer-Reviewed PublicationIMAGE: ANN CHENEY (RIGHT) IS SEEN HERE WITH COAUTHOR MARÍA POZAR. view more
CREDIT: CHENEY LAB, UC RIVERSIDE.
RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- In the United States, low-income immigrant and minority children often live in environments that have highly polluted air. A study led by researchers at the University of California, Riverside, demonstrates this among the Latinx and Purépecha immigrant children and caregivers living along Inland Southern California’s Salton Sea, a highly saline drying lakebed surrounded by agricultural fields. The Purépecha community is an Indigenous group from the Mexican state of Michoacán.
“Children of Latinx and Indigenous Mexican immigrant families living near the Salton Sea are especially vulnerable to the sea’s environmental impact on chronic health conditions,” said Ann Marie Cheney, an associate professor of social medicine, population, and public health in the School of Medicine and the lead author of the study. “Our study uniquely focuses on caregivers’ understanding of the Salton Sea’s impact on the health of children diagnosed with asthma or chronic respiratory health problems.”
According to Cheney, caregivers offer a unique perspective of Salton Sea impacts on children’s health conditions as they pay attention to the environment and climatic changes, anticipating how they will affect child health.
“While they intimately understand children’s vulnerabilities to environmental and climatic conditions, they often do not have a platform to advocate for their children,” she said. “Through research, we can elevate their voices, what they understand in terms of the effects of the environment on health, and advocate for change to public health policy.”
Cheney and her team engaged with 36 people who participated in either focus groups or one-on-one interviews. Participants lived in the northern part of the Salton Sea and were Latinx and Indigenous Mexican caregivers of children with asthma and respiratory problems. The study, which used principles of community-based participatory research, was from fall 2019 to spring 2021.
Participants characterized the Salton Sea’s environment as toxic. They said it included sulfuric smells, dust storms, chemicals, and fires, which contribute to children’s chronic health conditions, including respiratory illnesses such as asthma, bronchitis, and pneumonia.
In the interviews, participants
- shared that during the hot summer months, the Salton Sea emits sulfuric smells, affecting children’s health
- noted that dust storms are pronounced during the hot summer months and increase respiratory symptoms and allergies, such as irritated and watery eyes, in children
- expressed concern about children’s exposure to agricultural chemicals from the nearby agricultural fields
- worried about local agricultural practices in which growers dump chemicals into the Salton Sea
- talked about the burning of garbage on nearby tribal lands and its effects on air quality
- explained how daily exposure to the Salton Sea environment contributed also to allergies and nosebleeds
- noted that when they remove their children from the Salton Sea’s environment, their symptoms improve.
“Our study has important public health implications for vulnerable child populations,” Cheney said. “The Salton Sea and its effects on the children and families living along its border offer a preview into what is to come in the next several decades because of climate change. Without intervention, children, such as those in our study, will be especially vulnerable to respiratory health consequences of climate change and the effects of poor air quality on health.”
The research paper, titled “Latinx and Indigenous Mexican Caregivers’ Perspectives of the Salton Sea Environment on Children’s Asthma, Respiratory Health, and Co-Presenting Health Conditions,” appears in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
Cheney was joined in the study by Gabriela Ortiz, Ashley Trinidad, Sophia Rodriguez, Ashley Moran, and Jaír Chavez of UCR; Andrea Gonzalez of UCLA; and María Pozar of Conchita Servicios de la Comunidad in Mecca, California.
The study was funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health. The content of this article does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
The University of California, Riverside is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UCR's enrollment is more than 26,000 students. The campus opened a medical school in 2013 and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Center. The campus has an annual impact of more than $2.7 billion on the U.S. economy. To learn more, visit www.ucr.edu.
JOURNAL
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
METHOD OF RESEARCH
Survey
SUBJECT OF RESEARCH
People
ARTICLE TITLE
Latinx and Indigenous Mexican Caregivers’ Perspectives of the Salton Sea Environment on Children’s Asthma, Respiratory Health, and Co-Presenting Health Conditions
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
1-Jun-2023
No comments:
Post a Comment