Health and Inequality Metrics for Urban-scale Air Quality Management
Martenies, Sheena
2017
Abstract
Despite the successes of the Clean Air Act in the United States, ambient air pollution continues to be an important public health and environmental justice challenge. These challenges are especially evident at the local scale, where gradients in exposures, risks, and vulnerability may be sharp and align spatially, leading to disproportionate impacts. The goals of this dissertation are to use quantitative health impact assessment (HIA) techniques with inequality metrics to estimate the health burden attributable to ambient air pollution at a local scale, to better understand how health burdens are distributed across populations, and to assess air quality management (AQM) strategies for reducing this burden. The work is based in Detroit, MI and several adjacent cities, an urban area with a legacy of air quality challenges. The first aim examines health impact metrics used in the literature and makes recommendations about which metrics are most appropriate for AQM studies. Multiple metrics are recommended to meet the diverse needs of AQM stakeholders, specifically the number of attributable cases of mortality and morbidity, disability-adjusted life years, and monetized impacts. The second aim quantifies the health burden and inequality due to ambient air pollutants in Detroit, and apportions this burden to source types, e.g., regional, point, and mobile sources. The HIA results show fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone have the highest total health burdens on the population and that exposures to PM2.5, sulfur dioxide (SO2), and nitrogen dioxide from point and mobile sources have disproportionate impacts on vulnerable populations. The third aim examines the potential health benefits of two strategies to reduce air pollutant exposures: decreasing SO2 emissions at nearby industrial facilities and installing particulate matter filters in homes and schools in the area. The first strategy analysis, which compares alternative approaches to reducing emissions of SO2 at major point sources in the study area, demonstrates that using health and inequality metrics when comparing alternatives can identify point source controls strategies that better meet AQM and health goals. This study also suggests the control strategy proposed by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to attain compliance with the SO2 standard will have only modest health benefits for residents of Detroit and will do little to alleviate disparities in SO2 health burdens. The second strategy analysis, which estimates the benefits of filters with different efficiencies, indicates that the widespread use of filters, especially in schools, can be a cost-effective strategy for reducing asthma burdens for school-aged children in the area. Overall, the results of this dissertation indicate air pollution continues to be public health and environmental justice challenge for Detroit, MI, and that quantitative HIA metrics combined with key inequality metrics can support AQM decision-making to select alternatives that improve public health and reduce health disparities.Subjects
Health impacts of ambient air pollution in Detroit, MI Health impact assessment Health and inequality metrics Criteria pollutants
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