Measuring Long-Term Exposure to Wildfire PM2.5 in California: Time-Varying Inequities in Environmental Burden

Details

• Personal Author:
  Aguilera R ; Benmarhnia T ; Braun D ; Casey JA ; Dominici F ; Eisen EA ; Elser H ; González DJX ; Kioumourtzoglou M-A ; Mayeda ER ; Morello-Frosch R ; Northrop AJ ; Padula A ; Tartof SY
• Description:
  Wildfires have become more frequent and intense due to climate change and outdoor wildfire fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations differ from relatively smoothly varying total PM2.5. Thus, we introduced a conceptual model for computing long-term wildfire PM2.5 and assessed disproportionate exposures among marginalized communities. We used monitoring data and statistical techniques to characterize annual wildfire PM2.5 exposure based on intermittent and extreme daily wildfire PM2.5 concentrations in California census tracts (2006 to 2020). Metrics included: 1) weeks with wildfire PM2.5 > 5 µg/m3; 2) days with non-zero wildfire PM2.5; 3) mean wildfire PM2.5 during peak exposure week; 4) smoke waves (≥2 consecutive days with >15 µg/m3 wildfire PM2.5); and 5) mean annual wildfire PM2.5 concentration. We classified tracts by their racial/ethnic composition and CalEnviroScreen (CES) score, an environmental and social vulnerability composite measure. We examined associations of CES and racial/ethnic composition with the wildfire PM2.5 metrics using mixed-effects models. Averaged 2006 to 2020, we detected little difference in exposure by CES score or racial/ethnic composition, except for non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native populations, where a 1-SD increase was associated with higher exposure for 4/5 metrics. CES or racial/ethnic × year interaction term models revealed exposure disparities in some years. Compared to their California-wide representation, the exposed populations of non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native (1.68×, 95% CI: 1.01 to 2.81), white (1.13×, 95% CI: 0.99 to 1.32), and multiracial (1.06×, 95% CI: 0.97 to 1.23) people were over-represented from 2006 to 2020. In conclusion, during our study period in California, we detected disproportionate long-term wildfire PM2.5 exposure for several racial/ethnic groups. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Climate Change Environmental Exposure Epidemiology Fires Healthcare Disparities Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Particulate Matter Safety Wildfires

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• Keywords:
  Air Pollutants Author Keywords: American Indian Or Alaska Native California Chronic Exposure Climate Change Environmental Exposure Environmental Justice Health Disparities Long Term Study Particulate Matter Particulates

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• ISSN:
  0027-8424
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Massachusetts ; New York ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 2 ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 9 ; Pennsylvania ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-12
• Volume:
  121
• Issue:
  8
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20069289
• Citation:
  Proc Natl Acad Sci U.S.A. 2024 Feb; 121(8):1-12
• Contact Point Address:
  Joan A. Casey, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Washington School of Public Health, Seattle, WA 98195
• Email:
  jacasey@uw.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2024
• Performing Organization:
  University of California, Berkeley
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:5cb715371d2e2a21f9a54a79288b0e34a08293ee14c35fd89e458fb83f089fb4cdda2d2fac0232805931c423bc2120b95879fd3def6c658cbc42c939e3ede13b
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/207793/cdc_207793_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.70 MB ]