Children's Exposure to Vehicular Pollution in Texas School Districts
Dr. Chakraborty is the Principal Investigator for this project that is supported by a grant from the US Department of Transportation through the Center for Advancing Research in Transportation Emissions, Energy, and Health (CARTEEH). More details are available here.
The project seeks to analyze social disparities in exposure of school-aged children to vehicular air pollution and examine the adoption of mitigation strategies for reducing school exposure to vehicular pollution, across public school districts in Texas. The specific goals are to: (1) build a geospatial database that allows analysis of school district level associations between traffic-related pollution exposure and socio-demographic characteristics of children; (2) examine which U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-recommended practices and strategies for reducing school exposure to traffic pollution are being adopted by Texas school districts; and (3) analyze relationships between adoption of these best practices and traffic pollution exposure, socio-demographics of children, and other school district characteristics. This project will address the goals and priorities of the Center for Advancing Research in Transportation Emissions, Energy, and Health (CARTEEH) program in multiple ways. First, results will contribute new data and knowledge on social disparities in traffic pollution exposure for school children—an understudied topic that has significant implications for equitable transportation policy, children’s environmental health, and racial/social justice. Second, findings can be used to inform policy interventions, resource allocation, and transportation infrastructure changes for mitigating the adverse health impacts of vehicular pollution in Texas, especially in school districts where elevated traffic pollution exposure coincides with significantly higher proportions of socially disadvantaged children. Third, it will provide important information on the implementation of mitigation practices adopted by public school districts to reduce vehicular air pollution, as well as factors that influence the successful adoption of best practices.
Graduate research assistants for this project include Laura Schwanke and Jacob J. Aun from the UTEP Department of Sociology and Anthropology. Laura recently completed her MA thesis in Sociology, which focused on evaluating the adoption of vehicular pollution reduction strategies in Texas school districts based on a statewide survey of school district superintendents.
This project has resulted in the following publications and web-based applications:
JOURNAL ARTICLES:
- Chakraborty J, and Aun J J, 2023. Social Inequities in Exposure to Traffic-Related Air and Noise Pollution at Public Schools in Texas” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(7), 5308; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20075308.
- Chakraborty J, 2022. Children’s Exposure to Vehicular Pollution: Environmental Injustice in Texas, USA. Environmental Research. 204 (A), 112008; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2021.112008.
STUDENT THESIS:
- Schwanke, L, 2022. Reducing Children’s Exposure to Traffic-Related Pollution: Evaluating Policies and Strategies Used by Texas School Districts. Master's Thesis in Sociology. University of Texas at El Paso.
ONLINE GEOSPATIAL DASHBOARD:
- Chakraborty J, Schwanke L, and Salas K. 2021. Characteristics of Children and Vehicular Pollution in Texas School Districts Dashboard. Available at: https://tinyurl.com/CCVPTXSD