Air Pollution, Asthma, and Educational Outcomes as a Reflection of Systemic Racism in the Greater St. Louis Metropolitan Area
Board Location: #123
Discipline: Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences
Subcategory: Physiology and Health
Session: 3
Ahmed Ebada - University of Missouri-Columbia
Co-Author(s): Olivia Kim, Washington University in St. Louis, MO.Aakarsh Rai, Washington University in St. Louis, MO.Jasmine Miller, Washington University in St. Louis, MO.Timira Minor, Washington University in St. Louis, MO.Kelly Harris, Washington University in St. Louis, MO.
As a chronic illness that is highly affected by environmental factors such as air pollution, childhood asthma is also a leading cause of student absenteeism, increasing risk of poor academic achievement, and school dropout. Prevalence is increasing across the United States, particularly among low-income minoritized youth in urban areas. In the greater St. Louis metropolitan area, stark racial and socioeconomic inequalities exist along a geographic continuum because of the area’s historical practices of segregation and redlining. Such factors make the metro area a compelling location to assess the relationships between environmental risk, childhood asthma rates, academic outcomes, and socio-demographic characteristics. This study is a geospatial retrospective regional population-based cross-sectional analysis, building on the established link between human health and the built environment. The study utilizes geospatial analysis using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to investigate associations between fine particle matter (PM2.5) exposure, childhood asthma Emergency Room (ER) visit rates, school attendance rates, third-grade Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) scores, and socioeconomic and racial demography. We also utilized statistical analysis using SPSS software to explore associations among childhood asthma and academic outcomes. Findings are situated in an understanding of how systemic racism has disproportionately exposed specific populations to increased levels of risk. Results revealed PM2.5 facility emission levels above 1.8*10-3 (kg/m2) and ambient PM2.5 concentrations above 8 (µg/m3) in St. Louis City and North County, exceeding the biologically safe threshold (p-value < 0.001) and showing the highest levels in the metro area. St. Louis City and North St. Louis County also have the highest childhood asthma rates in the metro area with a Moran’s Index of 0.576 (p-value < 0.001), indicating spatial clustering of asthma rates in these areas. Results further showed correlations between higher asthma rates and poorer academic outcomes in predominantly low-income minority areas with high levels of PM2.5 exposure (p-value < 0.001). Specifically, proportional attendance, MAP English Language Arts and Math scores were lower in areas with higher PM2.5 emissions and higher childhood asthma rates. All academic outcomes variables had Moran’s Index values greater than 0.29 (p-value < 0.001), indicating their spatial clustering. This study demonstrates how differential environmental, academic, and health outcomes disadvantage racially and socioeconomically minoritized youth, illustrating an example of environmental injustice that perpetuates health inequities and further restricts life opportunities for vulnerable youth in the greater St. Louis metropolitan area.
Funder Acknowledgement(s): Department of Occupational Therapy, Washington University in St. Louis.
Faculty Advisor: Kelly Harris, kmharris@wustl.edu
Role: Literature review and background, Methodology Development, Data collection, GIS and SPSS analysis and figure development.