Abstract
The majority of studies on environmental justice show that groups with lower socio-economic status are more likely to face higher levels of air pollution. Most of these studies have assumed simple, linear associations between pollution and deprived groups. However, empirical evidence suggests that health impacts are greater at high-pollution concentrations. In this paper, we investigate the associations of extreme levels of particulate matter up to 10 micrometres in size (PM10) and ozone with deprived conditions, children and elderly people at sub-municipal level in Mexico City, using Áreas Geoestadisticas Básicas (AGEBs) as the unit of analysis. We used spatial quantile regression to analyse the association for each quantile of the range of pollution values, while also addressing spatial autocorrelation issues. Across AGEBs, higher levels of PM10 are significantly positively associated with deprived economic conditions and elderly people. These results demonstrate clear variations in the associations between PM10 and vulnerable groups across the ranges of these pollutants. Ozone levels are positively associated with higher numbers of children. The findings reflect differences in the source and degradation of these pollutants and provide important evidence for decision-makers addressing air pollution inequalities and injustice in Mexico City and other cities.
Highlights
This study focus on air pollution, where again, there are studies showing that people with lower socio-economic status are more exposed to air pollution (Grineski et al 2007; Bell and Ebisu 2012; Carrier et al 2014; Clark et al 2014; Zou et al 2014), while other studies debate whether such links exist (Branis and Linhartova 2012; Hajat et al 2013; Richardson et al 2013; Padilla et al 2014)
The analysis investigated spatial heterogeneity, comparing exposure to higher and lower levels of each pollutant, P M10 and ozone, across vulnerable groups in Mexico City
Our results show a positive association between deprived economic conditions and PM10 and a negative association between lower socio-economic conditions and ozone
Summary
Environmental injustice refers to the unequal impact of environmental degradation on social groups depending on their social, economic, racial and ethnic background (Zimmerman 1993; Pulido 1996; Mohai et al 2009; Raddatz and Mennis 2013; Laurian and Funderburg 2014). Evidence has been accumulating on the unequal distribution of environmental risk across social groups, with people of low socio-economic status (SES) living in close proximity to hazardous facilities (Zimmerman 1993; Krieg 1995; Pastor et al 2001; Saha and Mohai 2005; Mohai and Saha 2007; Schoolman and Ma 2012; Raddatz and Mennis 2013), and incinerators (Laurian and Funderburg 2014), having fewer green areas nearby (Johnson-Gaither 2011; Wolch et al 2014), living in areas with a high risk of flooding (Grineski et al 2015a), and being exposed to air pollution (Asch and Seneca 1978; Grineski et al 2007; Downey and Hawkins 2008; Havard et al 2009). This study focus on air pollution, where again, there are studies showing that people with lower socio-economic status are more exposed to air pollution (Grineski et al 2007; Bell and Ebisu 2012; Carrier et al 2014; Clark et al 2014; Zou et al 2014), while other studies debate whether such links exist (Branis and Linhartova 2012; Hajat et al 2013; Richardson et al 2013; Padilla et al 2014) This literature emphasises the importance of targeting heterogeneous environments in policy-making. This paper aims to investigate spatial heterogeneity in the relationship between air pollution and social vulnerability in the urban
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