Workplace Exposure to Pollution and Environmental Justice (RPA Pilot / Seed Project)

The focus of the proposed research project is to document workplace pollution exposure based on socioeconomic status in order to understand how labor markets contribute to the overall picture of environmental inequality across the United States. This analysis will be accomplished by quantifying the pollution exposure for individuals at the workplace using data from the US Census Bureau’s Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics survey, in conjunction with fine-grained satellite pollution data from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. We will take the data to an empirical model and estimate the heterogeneity in workplace pollution across different US regions and across time. The proposed research will fill a gap in knowledge regarding the role of pollution exposure at the workplace in environmental justice.