Understanding Racial Disparities in Exposure to Traffic-Related Air Pollution: Considering the Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Population Distribution

ECU Author/Contributor (non-ECU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)

Yoo Min,Kwan,Mei-Po Park (Creator)

Institution

East Carolina University (ECU )

Web Site: http://www.ecu.edu/lib/

Abstract: This study investigates the effect of spatiotemporal distributions of racial groups ondisparities in exposure to traffic-related air pollution by considering people"s daily movementpatterns. Due to human mobility, a residential neighborhood does not fully represent the truegeographic context in which people experience racial segregation and unequal exposure to airpollution. Using travel-activity survey data containing individuals" activity locations and timespent at each location, this study measures segregation levels that an individual might experienceduring the daytime and nighttime, estimates personal exposure by integrating hourly pollutionmaps and the survey data, and examines the association between daytime/nighttime segregationand exposure levels. The proximity of each activity location to major roads is also evaluated tofurther examine the unequal exposure. The results reveal that people are more integrated for work inhigh-traffic areas, which contributes to similarly high levels of exposure for all racial groups duringthe daytime. However, white people benefit from living in suburbs/exurbs away from busy roads.The finding suggests that policies for building an extensive and equitable public transit systemshould be implemented together with the policies for residential mixes among racial groups to reduceeveryone"s exposure to traffic-related air pollution and achieve environmental justice.

Additional Information

Publication

Other

Language: English

Date: 2020

Keywords

traffic-related air pollution; exposure to PM2.5; multi-contextual segregation; environmental health disparities; spatiotemporal methods; human mobility; environmental justice; uncertain geographic context problem; neighborhood effect averaging problem

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