Chemical explosion, COVID-19, and environmental justice: Insights from low-cost air quality sensors.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

To examine the impact of the Intercontinental Terminals Company (ITC) fire and COVID-19 on airborne particulate matter (PM) concentrations and the PM disproportionally affecting communities in Houston using low-cost sensors.

Methods

We compared measurements from a network of low-cost sensors with a separate network of monitors from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the Houston metropolitan area from Mar 18, 2019, to Dec 31, 2020. Further, we examined the associations between neighborhood-level sociodemographic status and air pollution patterns by linking the low-cost sensor data to EPA environmental justice screening and mapping systems.

Findings

We found increased PM levels during ITC fire and pre-COVID-19, and lower PM levels after the COVID-19

SUBMITTER: Liu G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9356636 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature