Health disparities and industrial emissions: a case study of semiconductor manufacturing and asthma morbidity in Austin, Texas.

Abstract

Racialized and lower-income communities often face disproportionate health risks from air pollution. In central Texas, semiconductor fabrication plants (SFPs) are a major emissions source, but their health effects and impact on disparities remain unclear. This study examined 217 census tracts in Travis County, Texas, calculating an SFP exposure score based on facility-reported emissions, weighted by proximity. Using distance-adjusted propensity score matching, this study compared 30 tracts within 2 km of SFPs to similar nearby tracts, controlling for demographics and socioeconomic indicators. Results showed SFPs were located in tracts with higher proportions of Black (12% vs. 7%) and Latinx (46% vs. 30%) residents and higher indicators of social vulnerability. Each one-standard deviation increase in SFP exposure corresponded to 9.3% higher asthma ED visits in the total population (IRR = 1.093, 95% CI: 1.017-1.172) and 12.4% in children (IRR = 1.124, 1.058-1.232). Estimates were unchanged when controlling for black carbon and sulfate. These findings indicate that semiconductor manufacturing emissions are concentrated in neighborhoods with a higher share of racialized residents and are independently linked to higher population-level rates of asthma morbidity. These findings suggest that expansion of the US semiconductor industry warrants increased public health surveillance and equity-informed decision making in future facility siting.

Graphical abstract:

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11111-026-00524-y.