TOXIC-METAL AIR POLLUTION WORSE IN SEGREGATED COMMUNITIES

Residents of the most racially segregated communities tend to breathe in higher concentrations of toxic-metal air pollution compared with residents in more integrated areas.

That’s according to new research from Colorado State University that assessed air levels of toxic-metals like lead, cadmium and nickel in different communities throughout the country. Levels were recorded between 2010 and 2019.

“While concentrations of total fine particulate matter are two times higher in racially segregated communities, concentrations of metals from anthropogenic sources are nearly ten times higher,” authors wrote, adding these pollutants are toxic and can cause cancer.

• Results showed industrial regions in the Midwest and shipping ports in coastal cities tended to have higher concentrations of human-emitted metal pollutants like lead. These areas also had high degrees of racial segregation.
• These health disparities are largely due to systemic racism, including historic redlining. In the 1930s, laws permitted discriminatory loan distribution to residents based on their neighborhood’s desirablilty. This practice was outlawed in 1968 but continues to perpetuate present-day disparities, as it forced populations of color to live closer to sources of pollution.