Household Air Pollution Disparities Between Socioeconomic Groups in Chicago

Abstract

Abstract Purpose: To assess indoor air pollution levels in urban US households and examine how socioeconomic factors influence these levels. Methods: We deployed wireless air monitoring devices to 244 households in a diverse population in Chicago to continuously record indoor fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentration. We calculated hourly average PM2.5 concentration in a 24-hour cycle. Four factors – race, household income, area deprivation, and exposure to smoking – were considered in this study. Results: A total of 93085 hours of exposure data were recorded. The average indoor PM2.5 concentration was 43.8 μg/m3. We observed a significant difference in the average indoor PM2.5 concentrations between Black/African American and non-Black/African American households (46.3 vs. 31.6 μg/m3), between high-income and low-income households (18.2 vs. 52.5 μg/m3), and between smoking and non-smoking households (69.7 vs. 29.0 μg/m3). However, no significant difference was observed between households in less and more deprived areas (43.7 vs. 43.0 μg/m3). Implications: Indoor air pollution levels in Chicago households are much higher than the recommended level, challenging the hypothesis that indoor air quality is adequate for populations in high income nations. Our results indicate that it is the personal characteristics of participants, rather than the macro environments, that lead to observed differences in household air pollution. Keywords: PM, pollution, exposure, urbanicity, indoor environment