Air Pollution and Social Determinants of Health in San Diego County

Air Pollution and Social Determinants of Health in San Diego County
Author: Vikramjeet Sokhi
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2022
Genre:
ISBN:

Introduction: Air pollution is a known problem that is burdening the world by not only influencing climate change, but by affecting public and individual health. The World Health Organization estimates that air pollution is responsible for the death of around 2.4 million people each year. Short-term exposure to air pollutants can lead to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cough, shortness of breath, wheezing, asthma, and respiratory disease. Whereas long-term exposure to air pollutants can lead to chronic asthma, pulmonary insufficiency, cardiovascular diseases, and cardiovascular mortality. Methods: An ecological study was done in which the primary data was acquired using an electronic air quality meter (Aeroqual S500) and measured concentrations of particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) and concentrations of gasses (O3 and CO2). Secondary data was acquired through an air quality map provided by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) and median household income was obtained from census.gov. Analysis of primary data was done using IBM SPSS Statistics Version 27 and an ANOVA means test was conducted to determine whether the levels of the different air pollutants were different between the locations. Results: ANOVA results showed that there were significant differences between the levels of the air pollutants among the locations. Using the descriptive of the ANOVA test, it was determined using 95% confidence intervals which locations had significant differences in the levels of air pollutants. Secondary data from EnviroScreen4.0 and median household income showed that areas with the highest levels of air pollutants had lower median household income and had ranked worse on the rankings of the CalEnviroScreen4.0 index scores and CalEnviroscreen score. Conclusion: The study found that there were higher levels of air pollutants (CO2, O3, PM2.5, and PM10) in areas where there is a low median household income and issues such as lack of education, increased linguistic isolation, increased poverty, high rates of unemployment, and a greater housing burden.

Air Pollution

Air Pollution
Author: American Society of Planning Officials
Publisher:
Total Pages: 50
Release: 1955
Genre: Air
ISBN: