Racial Differences in Perceptions of Air Pollution Health Risk: Does Environmental Exposure Matter?

Abstract

This article extends environmental risk perception research by exploring how potential health risk from exposure to industrial and vehicular air pollutants, as well as other contextual and socio-demographic factors, influence racial/ethnic differences in air pollution health risk perception. Our study site is the Greater Houston metropolitan area, Texas, USA—a racially/ethnically diverse area facing high levels of exposure to pollutants from both industrial and transportation sources. We integrate primary household-level survey data with estimates of excess cancer risk from ambient exposure to industrial and on-road mobile source emissions of air toxics obtained from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Statistical analysis is based on multivariate generalized estimation equation models which account for geographic clustering of surveyed households. Our results reveal significantly higher risk perceptions for non-Hispanic Black residents and those exposed to greater cancer risk from industrial pollutants, and also indicate that gender influences the relationship between race/ethnicity and air pollution risk perception. These findings highlight the need to incorporate measures of environmental health risk exposure in future analysis of social disparities in risk perception.

Racial Residential Segregation, Perceived Neighborhood Conditions, and Self‐Rated Health: The Case of Houston, Texas

“…Some work has shown racial/ethnic and neighborhood‐level differences in perceived risk (Adeola ; Macias ; Vaughan and Nordenstam ), though the direction of this relationship is unclear and depends on the environmental hazard in question (Adeola ; Mohai and Bryant ). In general, some of this work has shown that the more advantaged segments of society perceive lower environmental risks (Chakraborty et al ; Finucane et al ; Flynn, Slovic, and Mertz ), which is fitting with the work on objective indicators.…”

“…However, the vast majority of these studies measure neighborhood‐level environmental hazards using objective indicators, such as the locations of industrial polluters or Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data on air quality (Bravo et al ; Jones et al ). Considerably fewer studies have been conducted on the case of perceived environmental exposure, especially at the neighborhood level, which is the focus of the present study (Chakraborty et al ). Some work has shown racial/ethnic and neighborhood‐level differences in perceived risk (Adeola ; Macias ; Vaughan and Nordenstam ), though the direction of this relationship is unclear and depends on the environmental hazard in question (Adeola ; Mohai and Bryant ).…”

Influencing Factors on the Ecological Protection Behaviors of Entrepreneurial Farmers in Chinese Forest Zones

“…The existing literature suggests that ecological attitudes directly affect ecological protection behavior [19,40]. However, no literature reveals the intermediate mechanism between the two.…”

Examining Patterns of Air Quality Perception: A Cluster Analysis for Southern Chilean Cities

“…Although experts and public bodies recognize the effects of air pollution on public health, individuals do not always adequately understand these links (Chakraborty, Collins, Grineski, & Maldonado, 2017;Johnson, 2002). Therefore, perceptions of severity and susceptibility to the health effects of air pollution vary significantly across individuals and settings (Bickerstaff & Walker, 2001;Oltra & Sala, 2016).…”