Disparities in PM2.5 air pollution in the United States

Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 369 (6503) ◽  
pp. 575-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Colmer ◽  
Ian Hardman ◽  
Jay Shimshack ◽  
John Voorheis
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Air Pollution ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
Fine Particulate Matter ◽  
The United States ◽  
Census Tracts ◽  
Know How ◽  
Early Evidence ◽  
Fine Particulate ◽  
Over Time

Air pollution at any given time is unequally distributed across locations. Average concentrations of fine particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter (PM2.5) have fallen over time. However, we do not know how the spatial distribution of PM2.5 has evolved. Here, we provide early evidence. We combine 36 years of PM2.5 concentrations measured over ~8.6 million grid cells with geographic, economic, and demographic data from ~65,000 U.S. census tracts. We show that differences in PM2.5 between more and less polluted areas declined substantially between 1981 and 2016. However, the most polluted census tracts in 1981 remained the most polluted in 2016. The least polluted census tracts in 1981 remained the least polluted in 2016. The most exposed subpopulations in 1981 remained the most exposed in 2016. Overall, absolute disparities have fallen, but relative disparities persist.

scholarly journals Fine particulate matter damages and value added in the US economy

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (40) ◽  
pp. 19857-19862 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Tschofen ◽  
Inês L. Azevedo ◽  
Nicholas Z. Muller
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Air Pollution ◽  
Particulate Matter ◽  
Fine Particulate Matter ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Premature Mortality ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Electricity Sector ◽  
Fine Particulate

Emissions of most pollutants that result in fine particulate matter (PM2.5) formation have been decreasing in the United States. However, this trend has not been uniform across all sectors or regions of the economy. We use integrated assessment models (IAMs) to compute marginal damages for PM2.5-related emissions for each county in the contiguous United States and match location-specific emissions with these marginal damages to compute economy-wide gross external damage (GED) due to premature mortality. We note 4 key findings: First, economy-wide, GED has decreased by more than 20% from 2008 to 2014. Second, while much of the air pollution policies have focused to date on the electricity sector, damages from farms are now larger than those from utilities. Indeed, farms have become the largest contributor to air pollution damages from PM2.5-related emissions. Third, 4 sectors, comprising less than 20% of the national gross domestic product (GDP), are responsible for ∼75% of GED attributable to economic activities. Fourth, uncertainty in GED estimates tends to be high for sectors with predominantly ground-level emissions because these emissions are usually estimated and not measured. These findings suggest that policymakers should target further emissions reductions from such sectors, particularly in transportation and agriculture.

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