Chemical Explosion, COVID-19, and Environmental Justice: Insights from Low-Cost Air Quality Sensors

Details

• Personal Author:
  Craft E ; Delclos GL ; Gimeno Ruiz de Porras D ; Lewis GT ; Lin S ; Liu G ; Luo B ; Moore K ; Su W-C ; Tian H ; Yu B ; Zhang K
• Description:
  Objectives: To examine the impact of the Intercontinental Terminals Company (ITC) fire and COVID-19 on airborne particulate matter (PM) concentrations and the PM disproportionally affecting communities in Houston using low-cost sensors. Methods: We compared measurements from a network of low-cost sensors with a separate network of monitors from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the Houston metropolitan area from Mar 18, 2019, to Dec 31, 2020. Further, we examined the associations between neighborhood-level sociodemographic status and air pollution patterns by linking the low-cost sensor data to EPA environmental justice screening and mapping systems. Findings: We found increased PM levels during ITC fire and pre-COVID-19, and lower PM levels after the COVID-19 lockdown, comparable to observations from the regulatory monitors, with higher variations and a greater number of locations with high PM levels detected. In addition, the environmental justice analysis showed positive associations between higher PM levels and the percentage of minority, low-income population, and demographic index. Implication: Our study indicates that low-cost sensors provide pollutant measures with higher spatial variations and a better ability to identify hot spots and high peak concentrations. These advantages provide critical information for disaster response and environmental justice studies. Synopsis: We used measurements from a low-cost sensor network for air pollution monitoring and environmental justice analysis to examine the impact of anthropogenic and natural disasters. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollution Communicable Diseases Fires Healthcare Disparities Occupational Health Particulate Matter Safety
• Keywords:
  Air Pollution Sampling Air Quality Monitoring Author Keywords: Low-cost Sensor Coronavirus COVID-19 Disaster Environmental Health Environmental Justice Health Disparities Industrial Fire Accident Particulate Matter Particulates Sensors

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• ISSN:
  0048-9697
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 6 ; Texas
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  849
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20065955
• Citation:
  Sci Total Environ 2022 Nov; 849:157881
• Contact Point Address:
  Kai Zhang, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY 12144, USA
• Email:
  kzhang9@albany.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2023
• Performing Organization:
  University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Science of the Total Environment
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:aafd5e6c600194311a372ee16bf3fb815354400b6b4047b51b837bc46a965ab57cd4b182d2014a6c7395bccd664cd32be076541b751239163fcdac4d44a42176
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/209049/cdc_209049_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 5.98 MB ]