Inequity in consumption of goods and services adds to racial–ethnic disparities in air pollution exposure

TLDR

Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure is the leading environmental health risk in the United States. The study links PM2.5 exposure to the human activities that generate it and investigates “pollution inequity,” the gap between pollution caused by a racial‑ethnic group and the pollution that group actually experiences. The analysis shows that non‑Hispanic whites generate most PM2.5 through consumption yet inhale about 17 % less than they cause, while black and Hispanic populations bear 56 % and 63 % excess exposure, respectively, and that consumption patterns explain as much of the disparity as inhalation differences; despite a 50 % overall decline in PM2.5 from 2002‑2015, inequity remains high.

Abstract

Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution exposure is the largest environmental health risk factor in the United States. Here, we link PM2.5 exposure to the human activities responsible for PM2.5 pollution. We use these results to explore "pollution inequity": the difference between the environmental health damage caused by a racial-ethnic group and the damage that group experiences. We show that, in the United States, PM2.5 exposure is disproportionately caused by consumption of goods and services mainly by the non-Hispanic white majority, but disproportionately inhaled by black and Hispanic minorities. On average, non-Hispanic whites experience a "pollution advantage": They experience ∼17% less air pollution exposure than is caused by their consumption. Blacks and Hispanics on average bear a "pollution burden" of 56% and 63% excess exposure, respectively, relative to the exposure caused by their consumption. The total disparity is caused as much by how much people consume as by how much pollution they breathe. Differences in the types of goods and services consumed by each group are less important. PM2.5 exposures declined ∼50% during 2002-2015 for all three racial-ethnic groups, but pollution inequity has remained high.