Sociodemographic disparities in ambient particulate matter exposure in Austria

We investigate the unequal exposure of neighborhoods to ambient particulate matter in Austria, utilizing municipality-level data from the European Environment Agency and sociodemographic data from Statistics Austria. Particulate matter is a major contributor to environmental health risks, and despite progress, large parts of Austria exceed safe air quality levels. Our analysis shows that foreign nationals encounter considerably higher levels of particulate matter exposure. This finding remains robust to the inclusion of various controls, across different exposure indicators, within and between regions, as well as within urban and rural neighborhoods. Furthermore, people with low educational attainment tend to be more exposed to particulate matter. Regarding income, we observe an inverted U-shaped pattern in which positive associations are prevalent across most income levels, with insignificant or negative links observed at high incomes. Overall, our findings underscore that socioeconomically vulnerable neighborhoods are exposed to higher levels of particulate matter.