Equity and health impacts of aircraft emissions at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

Abstract

The development and expansion of airports has important effects on urban infrastructure, economies, and equity. With air travel demand expected to grow by 77% in the next twenty years, there is a growing need to address airports’ impacts on residents. This study examines the impacts of aircraft emissions on concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), a harmful form of air pollution, at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world's busiest airport. Aircraft landing and takeoff emissions were modeled for June–July 2002 using the Advanced Modeling System for Transport, Emissions, Reactions, and Deposition of Atmospheric Matter (AMSTERDAM). Distributional analyses show that within 675 of 710 census tracts of the 29-county Atlanta metropolitan region, the average aircraft contribution to PM2.5 was low (<20ng/m3). However, in tracts where aircraft contribution to PM2.5 exceeded 20ng/m3 (36 tracts), populations overwhelmingly had lower median incomes, home values, and educational attainment, as well as higher percentages of nonwhite residents, (p<0.01). OLS regression, principal components analysis, and quantile regression explore the mediating relationships between socioeconomic variables. The relationship between minority population percentages and aircraft-derived particulate matter was found to grow stronger as concentrations increased. Analysis using a concentration–response function indicates that the airport's influence on PM2.5 concentrations may be responsible for ≈1.4 premature adult (age 25+) deaths per year (90% confidence interval: 0.5–2.7). The use of air quality modeling in planning decisions may help protect residents and give them necessary information to push for policies and technologies that would reduce emissions and exposure.