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Racial disparities in air pollution

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Air pollution is a leading cause of death in the USA, with substantial disparities in its effect on different racial and ethnic groups. Ma et al. used nationwide data on air pollution and cardiovascular-disease mortality rates, and find that air pollution disproportionately effects non-Hispanic Black people compared to non-Hispanic white people.

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Correspondence to Srinivasa Vittal Katikireddi.

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Competing interests

S.V.K. was co-chair of the Scottish Government’s Expert Reference Group on Ethnicity and COVID-19, a member of the UK Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies (SAGE) subgroup on ethnicity, and his work on health inequalities is funded by the Medical Research Council (MC_UU_00022/2), the Scottish Government Chief Scientist’s Office (SPHSU17), the Economics and Social Research Council (ES/W000849/1) and the European Research Council (949582). S.A. is funded by the Medical Research Council (MC_UU_00022/2), the Scottish Government Chief Scientist’s Office (SPHSU17) and the Economics and Social Research Council (ES/W000849/1).

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Amele, S., Katikireddi, S.V. Racial disparities in air pollution. Nat Hum Behav 7, 2058–2059 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01776-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01776-6

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