COVID-19 pandemic reveals persistent disparities in nitrogen dioxide pollution

The unequal spatial distribution of ambient nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), an air pollutant related to traffic, leads to higher exposure for minority and low socioeconomic status communities. We exploit the unprecedented drop in urban activity during the COVID-19 pandemic and use high-resolution, remotely sensed NO₂ observations to investigate disparities in NO₂ levels across different demographic subgroups in the United States. We show that, prior to the pandemic, satellite-observed NO₂ levels in the least White census tracts of the United States were nearly triple the NO₂ levels in the most White tracts. During the pandemic, the largest lockdown-related NO₂ reductions occurred in urban neighborhoods that have 2.0 times more non-White residents and 2.1 times more Hispanic residents than neighborhoods with the smallest reductions. NO₂ reductions were likely driven by the greater density of highways and interstates in these racially and ethnically diverse areas. Although the largest reductions occurred in marginalized areas, the effect of lockdowns on racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic NO₂ disparities was mixed and, for many cities, nonsignificant. For example, the least White tracts still experienced ∼1.5 times higher NO₂ levels during the lockdowns than the most White tracts experienced prior to the pandemic. Future policies aimed at eliminating pollution disparities will need to look beyond reducing emissions from only passenger traffic and also consider other collocated sources of emissions such as heavy-duty vehicles.