Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Public health

Racial disparities in air pollution

Air pollution is a leading cause of death in the USA, with substantial disparities in its effect on different racial and ethnic groups. Ma et al. used nationwide data on air pollution and cardiovascular-disease mortality rates, and find that air pollution disproportionately effects non-Hispanic Black people compared to non-Hispanic white people.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. GBD 2019 Diseases and Injuries Collaborators. Lancet 396, 1204–1222 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Jbaily, A. et al. Nature 601, 228–233 (2022).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Diderichsen, F., Hallqvist, J. & Whitehead, M. Int. J. Epidemiol. 48, 268–274 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Katikireddi, S. V. et al. J. Epidemiol. Community Health 75, 970–974 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Wright, W. J. Antipode 53, 791–809 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Ma, Y. et al. Nat. Hum. Behav. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01694-7 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Mackenbach, J. P. Eur. J. Public Health 30, 615 (2020).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Krieger, N. Int. J. Health Serv. 44, 643–710 (2014).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Bailey, Z. D. et al. Lancet 389, 1453–1463 (2017).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Williams, D. R. J. Health Soc. Behav. 59, 466–485 (2018).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Srinivasa Vittal Katikireddi.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

S.V.K. was co-chair of the Scottish Government’s Expert Reference Group on Ethnicity and COVID-19, a member of the UK Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies (SAGE) subgroup on ethnicity, and his work on health inequalities is funded by the Medical Research Council (MC_UU_00022/2), the Scottish Government Chief Scientist’s Office (SPHSU17), the Economics and Social Research Council (ES/W000849/1) and the European Research Council (949582). S.A. is funded by the Medical Research Council (MC_UU_00022/2), the Scottish Government Chief Scientist’s Office (SPHSU17) and the Economics and Social Research Council (ES/W000849/1).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Amele, S., Katikireddi, S.V. Racial disparities in air pollution. Nat Hum Behav 7, 2058–2059 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01776-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01776-6

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing