Minorities in the US breathe in more air pollution caused by white people

Black and Hispanic people are disproportionately exposed to air pollution produced by white people, a study analyzing personal consumption has found

Black and Hispanic people are disproportionately exposed to air pollution caused mainly by the consumer behaviours of white people in the US, according to a new study. Researchers call this "pollution inequity" (inequity is about unfair, avoidable differences and so it's different to inequality which can simply describe uneven results).

Air pollution exposure matters; it is the largest environmental health risk factor in the US, adding up to about 100,00 deaths each year. In March, Christopher W Tessum and his colleagues of engineers and economists tried to quantify these differences in a study that was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.