Intraurban Geography of Aromatic Hydrocarbon Air Pollutants and their Associations with Marginalization and Health in Hamilton, Ontario

Abstract

Hamilton, Ontario is an industrial city in Canada with greater concentrations of pollutants and poorer air quality than other Canadian cities. Poor air quality has been directly linked to adverse health outcomes and increased mortality. Air pollution from industrial sources can include aromatic hydrocarbons, which can be further subdivided into polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene) which are a subset of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These air pollutants are known to be toxic to human health.

The proposed research first investigated these air pollutants' spatial distributions and change over time. Next, these air pollutants were correlated to the Ontario Marginalization Index and health outcomes, followed by an estimate of their predicted health impacts.

The research utilized field-sampled data to investigate the change in PAH spatial distributions over time both seasonally (winter and summer) and historically (2009 versus 2022-2023) by generating land use regression surfaces for each year and comparing them using geostatistical methods. Exploratory and spatial regressions were performed between each aromatic hydrocarbon air pollutant and the four dimensions of the Ontario Marginalization Index and health outcomes (asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure, COPD, mental health and addictions, and emergency department visits). A health risk analysis was conducted by calculating carcinogenic risk factors and non-carcinogenic hazard ratios to estimate additional cases of cancer and determine the locations that exceeded recommended exposure limits.