The impact of air exchange rate on ambient air pollution exposure and inequalities across all residential parcels in Massachusetts

Individual housing characteristics can modify outdoor ambient air pollution infiltration through air exchange rate (AER). Time and labor-intensive methods needed to measure AER has hindered characterization of AER distributions across large geographic areas. Using publicly available data and regression models associating AER with housing characteristics, we estimated AER for all Massachusetts residential parcels. We conducted an exposure disparities analysis, considering ambient PM(2.5) concentrations and residential AERs. Median AERs (h(−1)) with closed windows for winter and summer were 0.74 (IQR: 0.47–1.09) and 0.36 (IQR: 0.23–0.57), respectively, with lower AERs for single family homes. Across residential parcels, variability of indoor PM(2.5) concentrations of ambient origin was twice that of ambient PM(2.5) concentrations. Housing parcels above the 90(th) percentile of both AER and ambient PM(2.5) (i.e. the leakiest homes in areas of highest ambient PM(2.5)) – versus below the 10(th) percentile – were located in neighborhoods with higher proportions of Hispanics (20.0% vs 2.0%), households with an annual income of less than $20,000 (26.0% vs. 7.5%), and individuals with less than a high school degree (23.2% vs. 5.8%). Our approach can be applied in epidemiological studies to estimate exposure modifiers or to characterize exposure disparities that are not solely based on ambient concentrations.