Fine Particulate Matter Disparities in Kansas City, MO, are Significant and Persist Across the Past Decade

Shreeram Ojha, AMY CHRISTIANSEN, University of Missouri - Kansas City

     Abstract Number: 689
     Working Group: Identifying and Addressing Disparate Health and Social Impacts of Exposure to Aerosols and Other Contaminants across Continents, Communities, and Microenvironments

Abstract
The Midwestern city of Kansas City, MO, has a long history of redlining practices beginning in the 1920s that have deeply segregated the city. This segregation persists to the present day, making Kansas City an important place to study pollution disparities along demographic lines. Here, we examine quantitative decadal trends and seasonal patterns in air pollution disparities in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area (KCMA) using Census tract demographic information from the United States Census Bureau and daily fine particulate matter (PM2.5) mass concentrations from both existing ground monitoring stations and the Environmental Protection Agency’s Downscaler Model from 2009 to 2019. We find statistically significant (p<0.05) differences in PM2.5 distributions between predominantly white communities and communities of color that persist through all seasons and throughout the past decade. These significant differences persist throughout the PM2.5 distribution, including the 5th, 50th, and 95th percentiles. While disparities in PM2.5 mass concentrations are persistent throughout all seasons, we find that the largest discrepancies occur during summer and fall. On an annual basis, we find that communities of color have experienced on average >1 µg m-3 (10%) higher PM2.5 burden than predominantly white communities over the past decade. Despite overall decreasing PM2.5 mass concentrations, the disparity between communities remains remarkably consistent over time, indicating that the pollution gap between communities has not been narrowed by emissions regulations. Here, we also discuss the weekday/weekend impact on PM2.5 disparities and concentrations, as well as a preliminary analysis to attribute tract-level PM2.5 disparities to specific source sectors.