Published:

Local Government, Projects, Scottish Economy

Inequalities in air pollution exposure in Glasgow City

In 2022, ClimateXChange published a report with an overview of environmental inequalities that people across Scotland face. Notably, people from minority groups are significantly more likely to live in areas with above average outdoor air pollution compared to white people. Since then, the Scottish census came out with updated estimates on ethnic backgrounds, finding that, in Glasgow City Council, the ethnic minority population (excluding white minorities) grew from under 12% to nearly 20% of the local authority population between 2011 and 2022. This is a larger proportionate change in population than either the metropolitan area or Scotland as a whole experienced over the same time period: Scotland’s ethnic minority population grew from 8.2% of the total population to 12.9%, whilst the Glasgow travel-to-work area grew from 7.3% of the total population to 12.5% (Scotland Census, 2024).

In a new report, we find that people from ethnic minority backgrounds are disproportionately likely to live in areas with high concentrations of outdoor pollutants, notably particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen oxides (NOX), which generally come from vehicle emissions and wear. People from white minority backgrounds are also significantly more likely to live in polluted areas than people from white Scottish or British backgrounds.

This is significant because these pollutants can have a serious impact on individual health. While Glasgow has lower concentrations of health-affecting air pollutants compared to other large cities in the UK, it has higher concentrations than anywhere else in Scotland. Nonetheless, inequalities in outcomes are important to monitor when creating new environmental policies, and published studies into different outcomes for the growing ethnic minority population in Scotland are few and far between.

Children are especially sensitive to the health outcomes from poor air quality, and are exposed to a disproportionate volume of air pollution travelling to and being in school. Unsurprisingly, primary and secondary school students experience similar levels of air pollution at school and at home. This means that a disproportionate number of students from ethnic minority backgrounds go to schools in areas with higher levels of air pollution.

Finally, there is some evidence that the least income-deprived neighbourhoods have the highest concentrations of NOX, although there is not generally a clear relationship between income and pollutant concentrations in general. This is surprising, given that a previous study found that areas with higher rates of income deprivation generally had higher rates of air pollution in the greater Glasgow metropolitan area. This difference in findings likely comes down to these boundaries, but by focusing on Glasgow City Council, we are able to isolate areas relevant to local policy makers.

This report follows a blog, published back in March, which introduces the previous research into air quality, health, and socioeconomic inequalities.

Check out the new report here, and for more information on the GEMINOA project, click here.

Authors

Allison is a Fellow at the Fraser of Allander Institute. She specialises in health, socioeconomic inequality and labour market dynamics.