Racial, ethnic minorities and low-income groups in US exposed to higher levels of air pollution

Certain groups in the U.S.—Blacks, Asians, Hispanics, Latinos, and low-income populations—are being exposed to higher levels of dangerous fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5) than other groups, according to new research from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. 

In collaboration with the Environmental Systems Research Institute, the study authors developed a new platform linking 17 years' worth of demographic data with data on fine particulate pollution from across the U.S., and created unique visualizations, that shine a light on the stark disparities in air pollution exposure among racial/ethnic and income groups in America. The study will be published on January 12, 2022, in the journal Nature. "Our study, which highlights the relative disparities in PM2.5 exposure in the U.S., is particularly timely given current crises the country is facing, such as a reckoning with racism as well as disparities in COVID-19 outcomes," said Francesca Dominici, Clarence James Gamble Professor of Biostatistics, Population and Data Science at the Harvard Chan School and senior author of the study. Read more...

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