Racial Disparities in Childhood Exposure to Neurotoxic Air Pollution.

This article focuses on racial disparities in cumulative exposure to neurotoxic air pollutants during early childhood in the United States and examines the extent to which socioeconomic status (SES) explains or intersects with these disparities. Using nationally representative longitudinal data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) linked with comprehensive pollution data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the study finds that Black and Hispanic children experience significantly higher exposure to a broad range of neurotoxic pollutants compared to White children. These racial disparities persist even after adjusting for SES differences, although they are more pronounced among children from lower SES families, indicating an intersectional amplification of environmental inequality. The findings suggest that structural factors related to racial segregation and discrimination, rather than socioeconomic disadvantage alone, largely drive unequal pollution exposure during a critical developmental period.