Spatial injustice of particulate matter: the case of California

Abstract

This research explores the spatial patterns of environmental risk and their equity implications with particular focus on particulate matter (PM) air pollution in California, USA. Regarding risk distribution, two distinctive approaches have stood out in environmental scholarship: the risk society thesis and an environmental (in)justice claim. While the former asserts that modernization has made environmental risks more pervasive and less discriminatory extending beyond the traditional socioeconomic and geographic boundaries, the latter demonstrates the disproportionate influences of political and demographic trends on the distribution of environmental hazards. Against these intellectual backgrounds, the research presented here seeks to examine whether, and how, socioeconomic factors of race/ethnicity and unemployment affect PM distribution while controlling for other land-use (i.e. multi-housing and no vehicle) and geographic (i.e. elevation and tree canopy) features. Utilizing bivariate and multivariate analyses that incorporate spatial interaction, the research found PM exposure patterns to follow traditional postures of the environmental (in)justice claim, with Hispanics and Blacks disproportionately exposed to higher levels of PM.