When Space and Time Matter in Environmental Injustice: A Bayesian Analysis of the Association between Socio-economic Disadvantage and Air Pollution in Greater Mexico City

Abstract

Environmental injustice refers to the unequal burden of pollutants on groups with lower socioeconomic status. An increasing number of studies have identified associations between high levels of pollution and socioeconomic disadvantage. However, few studies have controlled adequately for spatio-temporal variations in pollution. This study uses a Bayesian approach to explore the association between socioeconomic disadvantage and pollution in Mexico City Metropolitan Area. We quantify the association of socioeconomic disadvantage with PM₁₀ and ozone and evaluate the impact of accounting for spatio-temporal structure of the pollution data. We find a significant positive association between socio-economic disadvantage and pollution for levels of PM₁₀, but not ozone. The inclusion of the spatio-temporal element in the modeling results in improved weaker estimates of this association but this does not alter results substantially. These findings confirm the robustness of previous studies that found signs of environmental injustice where spatio-temporal variations have not been explicitly considered, confirming that targeted policies to reduce pollution in socio-economically disadvantaged areas are required.