Air pollution, health, mortality, and ethnicity: analysis of individual-level longitudinal and census data linked to high-resolution spatial data from the United Kingdom

Abstract

This thesis investigates the association between air pollution and health in the UK and examines how this association varies by ethnicity and country of birth. It links high-resolution spatial data on air pollution to individual-level longitudinal data at different geographical scales. The thesis shows that higher concentrations of NO₂, SO₂, CO, PM10, and PM2.5 ambient air pollutants are associated with limiting long-term illness, poor self-reported health, lower ratings of mental well-being, and increased mortality rates and hospital admissions. Particulate matter is mainly associated with all-cause, respiratory, cardiovascular, infectious and cancer mortality and hospital admissions, while SO₂ is mostly related to mental/behavioural disorders/suicide mortality and respiratory hospital admissions. NO₂ is associated with all mortality and hospital admission causes. The analysis further shows that non-UK-born and ethnic minorities report poorer health with higher exposure to air pollution than UK-born and British-white individuals. Ethnic differences are not observed in the association between air pollution and mental well-being. This thesis supports the association between long-term exposure to air pollution and poor health and increased mortality and hospital admissions and shows that the effect of air pollution on health is exacerbated for ethnic minorities in the UK.