While cleaner air has dramatically reduced cardiovascular deaths linked to fine particulate pollution across the United States, Black and Hispanic communities continue to bear a disproportionate health burden from toxic air, according to new research from Yale School of Public Health.
Deaths from PM2.5 air pollution fell nearly 45 percent between 2001 and 2020, dropping from roughly 42,000 to 23,500 annually. However, non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic populations experienced slower improvement rates compared to non-Hispanic whites. Population growth differences further widened these disparities.
“Air quality regulations have worked, but they’ve worked unevenly,” said Dr. Kai Chen, associate professor of environmental health sciences at Yale and the study’s senior author.
Researchers examining pollution data across 3,100 U.S. counties found that specific chemical components, rather than overall pollution levels, drive current health impacts. By 2020, black carbon from traffic and diesel engines emerged as the leading killer, even as sulfate from coal plants declined.
Different communities face distinct pollution threats. Non-Hispanic Blacks were disproportionately affected by black carbon and sulfate, while Hispanic populations faced higher burdens from black carbon, dust, and organic aerosols from wildfires and fossil fuel consumption.
“These disparities reflect decades of structural and environmental inequities,” Chen explained. “Communities of color are more likely to live near highways, industrial facilities, and other pollution sources, resulting in disproportionately higher exposure to air pollution.”
The research, published in Science Advances, suggests that targeting specific pollution components could help close racial gaps in cardiovascular deaths.
See: “Cardiovascular deaths from air pollution declining in the U.S., but racial disparities persist” (February 09, 2026)Â
