Air Pollution Inequality in the Denver Metroplex and its Relationship to Historical Redlining

Abstract

Prior studies have shown that people of color (POC) in the United States are exposed to higher levels of pollution than non-Hispanic White people. We show that the city of Denver, Colorado, displays similar race-and ethnicity-based air pollution disparities by using a combination of high-resolution satellite data, air pollution modeling, historical demographic information, and areal apportionment techniques. TROPOMI NO 2 columns and modeled PM 2.5 concentrations from 2019 are higher in communities subject to redlining. We calculated and compared Spearman coefficients for pollutants and race at the census tract level for every city that underwent redlining to contextualize the disparities in Denver. We find that the location of polluting infrastructure leads to higher populations of POC living near point sources, including 40% higher Hispanic and Latino populations. This influences pollution distribution, with annual average PM 2.5 surface concentrations of 6.5 μg m −3 in census tracts with 0−5% Hispanic and Latino populations and 7.5 μg m −3 in census tracts with 60−65% Hispanic and Latino populations. Traffic analysis and emission inventory data show that POC are more likely to live near busy highways. Unequal spatial distribution of pollution sources and POC have allowed for pollution disparities to persist despite attempts by the city to rectify them. Finally, we identify the core causes of the pollution disparities to provide direction for remediation.

Neighborhood-Level Nitrogen Dioxide Inequalities Contribute to Surface Ozone Variability in Houston, Texas

“…Neighborhood-level NO 2 inequalities with race and ethnicity can be observed from space using the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI). ,,− This was first demonstrated by Demetillo et al, who showed relative census tract-scale NO 2 inequalities based on TROPOMI tropospheric vertical column densities (TVCDs) oversampled to 0.01° × 0.01° agreed with results from fine-scale (250 m × 500 m) airborne remote sensing during the NASA Deriving Information on Surface Conditions from COlumn and VERtically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality (DISCOVER-AQ) in Houston. In addition, spatial patterns in oversampled TROPOMI TVCDs reflected NO 2 distributions at the surface, a conclusion based on comparisons with in-situ aircraft NO 2 vertical profiles from DISCOVER-AQ and surface measurements .…”