Figure 9: The relationship between a neighborhood’s average PM2.5 concentration and the yearly number of asthma-related ER visits.
Figure 9: The relationship between a neighborhood’s average PM2.5 concentration and the yearly number of asthma-related ER visits.
Figure 9 is a scatter plot that has the average number of yearly asthma-related ER visits per 10,000 people in a neighborhood on the y-axis and the average PM2.5 concentration on the x-axis. Each dot represents a neighborhood, and the size of the dot is the number of PM2.5 measurements taken in that neighborhood. Although there appear to be some outlier neighborhoods with average PM2.5 concentrations around 7 µg/cubic meter, the vast majority of neighborhoods have average concentrations between 10 to 13 µg/cubic meters. In this region, there is a steep position correlation between average PM2.5 concentrations and asthma-related visits, particularly as one goes above the EPA limit. As a result, we conclude that PM2.5 concentrations and the frequency of severe asthma attacks are related.
Figure 10: The relationship between a neighborhood’s average PM2.5 concentration and the yearly number of cardiovascular-related ER visits.
Figure 10 uses many of the same design principles as Figure 9; however, instead of looking at asthma-related ER visits, we investigated cardiovascular-related visits due to PM2.5’s small size, which allows these particles to enter the bloodstream. A very similar relationship was observed in this visualization as well.
Although there are outliers at average concentrations of around 6-7 µg/cubic meters, the vast majority of data points (10-13 µg/cubic meters) demonstrate a steep positive slope once above the PM2.5 limit. As a result, PM2.5 also affects one’s cardiovascular health, which may lead to increased occurrence of heart disease and other long-term health effects. In addition, both Figures 9 and 10 illustrate that although the difference between PM 2.5 concentrations of 12 and 13 µg/cubic meters may appear small, these seemingly insignificant discrepancies in air pollution lead to more significant effects on health, due to the steep positive slope above 12 µg/cubic meters.
It is also important to note that asthma and cardiovascular health are not the only health factors associated with PM2.5 concentrations: A paper by Mekonnen et al. discovered a positive correlation between a mother's exposure to PM2.5 and tropospheric ozone and the chances of a preterm birth (Mekonnen et al. 2021). Thus, our visualizations only include a fraction of potential health-related variables can may correlate to air pollution levels.
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