MS224 - Socioeconomic disparities in PM2.5 concentrations in nine large Latin American cities: Does socioeconomic advantage come with better environments?
PM2.5 (particulate matter <2.5μm) is a global environmental hazard, causing millions of deaths annually. However, its relationship to socioeconomic status (SES) for small areas i in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), has been infrequently investigated e units. Our study leverages neighborhood level data to reveal PM2.5-SES disparities in nine large LAC cities. We conducted an ecological study at neighborhood and subcity (set of neighborhoods) levels. SES was proxied by primary school attainment. To estimate PM2.5-SES inequalities, we estimated the slope index of inequality (SII). We found similar results at the subcity and neighborhood level; however, confidence intervals were narrower at the neighborhood level. PM2.5-SES inequalities at neighborhood level had three patterns: (i) in Santiago , Bogota and Lima the lowest SES neighborhoods were exposed to higher PM2.5 levels (SII valuee -1.05, -2.78 and -5.65 respectively); (ii) in Buenos Aires (3.37), San Jose (1.37), Guatemala City (2.46), and Mexico City (0.92) highest SES neighborhoods were exposed to higher PM2.5 levels; and (iii) in São Paulo , and Panama City ( there was no strong evidence of an association of SES with PM2.5 . The PM2.5-SES association was heterogeneous across LAC cities pointing towards the need for public health interventions to take into consideration small geographic scale levels for better tailoring of interventions and adequately inform public health decision making.
