Abstract A04: Geographic and socioeconomic disparities in exposure to carcinogenic air toxics in St. Louis, Missouri

Background: Residential segregation has been associated with exposure to hazardous air pollutants in the United States. However, few studies have utilized spatial approaches for measuring segregation at the neighborhood level. We used spatial epidemiologic methods to examine associations between neighborhood characteristics and exposure to carcinogenic air toxics in St. Louis, Missouri. Methods: We obtained cancer risk data from the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s 2011 National Air Toxics Assessment and used a geographic information system to identify air toxic hotspots in the St. Louis region. Census tract-level data from 2010 to 2014 from the American Community Survey were used to develop isolation measures that capture spatial patterns of residential segregation within the St. Louis region. In the current analysis, we developed a black isolation measure and a poverty isolation measure as indicators of spatial separation from other racial/ethnic populations and from nonpoverty populations, respectively. Relative risks were used to evaluate relationships between neighborhood characteristics and air toxic hotspots. Results: The distribution of carcinogenic air toxics varied throughout the St. Louis region and clustered near interstate highways. Neighborhood-level measures of the racial and economic isolation were associated with air toxic hotspots. Census tracts in the highest quartile of black isolation were eight times more likely to be located in an air toxic hotspot than tracts in the lowest quartile (RR = 8.1, 95% Confidence Interval = 5.9-12.1). Census tracts in the highest quartile of economic isolation were five times more likely to be located in an air toxic hotspot than tracts in the lowest quartile (RR = 5.0 95% Confidence Interval = 3.3-9.4). Conclusions: There are geographic and socioeconomic disparities in exposure to carcinogenic air toxics in the St. Louis region. The identification of local air toxic hotspots can inform public health efforts to eliminate disparities in exposure to air toxics. Citation Format: Christine Ekenga, Cheuk Yui Yeung, Masayoshi Oka. Geographic and socioeconomic disparities in exposure to carcinogenic air toxics in St. Louis, Missouri [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Environmental Carcinogenesis: Potential Pathway to Cancer Prevention; 2019 Jun 22-24; Charlotte, NC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Can Prev Res 2020;13(7 Suppl): Abstract nr A04.