Alignment of Air Pollution Exposure Inequality Metrics with Environmental Justice and Equity Goals in the United States

Sarah Chambliss (), Natasha Quynh Nhu Bui La Frinere-Sandoval, Corwin Zigler, Elizabeth J. Mueller, Roger D. Peng, Emily M. Hall, Elizabeth C. Matsui and Catherine Cubbin
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Sarah Chambliss: Department of Population Health, The University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School, Austin, TX 78712, USA
Natasha Quynh Nhu Bui La Frinere-Sandoval: Steve Hicks School of Social Work, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
Corwin Zigler: Department of Biostatistics, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, RI 02903, USA
Elizabeth J. Mueller: School of Architecture, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
Roger D. Peng: Department of Statistics and Data Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
Emily M. Hall: Department of Population Health, The University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School, Austin, TX 78712, USA
Elizabeth C. Matsui: Department of Population Health, The University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School, Austin, TX 78712, USA
Catherine Cubbin: Steve Hicks School of Social Work, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA

IJERPH, 2024, vol. 21, issue 12, 1-13

Abstract: A growing literature within the field of air pollution exposure assessment addresses the issue of environmental justice. Leveraging the increasing availability of exposure datasets with broad spatial coverage and high spatial resolution, a number of works have assessed inequalities in exposure across racial/ethnic and other socioeconomic groupings. However, environmental justice research presents the additional need to evaluate exposure inequity—inequality that is systematic, unfair, and avoidable—which may be framed in several ways. We discuss these framings and describe inequality and inequity conclusions provided from several contrasting approaches drawn from recent work. We recommend that future work addressing environmental justice interventions include complementary “Exposure-driven” and “Socially weighted” metrics, taking an intersectional view of areas and social groups that are both disproportionately impacted by pollution and are impacted by additional health risks resulting from structural racism and consider implications for environmental justice beyond distributional equity.

Keywords: air pollution; environmental justice; environmental equity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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