Differences in Long Term Exposure to Wildfire Smoke Among People Who Are Incarcerated Compared to People Who Are Not Incarcerated in California, 2015-2020.

Wildfire smoke exposure is associated with a range of adverse health outcomes. People who are incarcerated may be especially vulnerable to smoke exposure because, compared to non-incarcerated people, they lack agency to control their exposure. The goal of this study, within California, is to (a) geographically characterize wildfire-attributable PM2.5 exposure from 2015 to 2020 and (b) to determine whether the burden of wildfire PM2.5 exposure is higher in neighborhoods that contain carceral facilities compared to neighborhoods without carceral facilities. Data on wildfire-attributable PM2.5 was linked to census-tract level counts of incarcerated and non-incarcerated populations. Statewide statistics on wildfire-attributable PM2.5 were calculated for five exposure metrics: (a) number of weeks with wildfire PM2.5 > 5 μg/m3, (b) number of days with non-zero wildfire PM2.5, (c) mean daily wildfire PM2.5 during the peak exposure week, (d) number of smoke waves (defined as ≥2 consecutive days with >15 μg/m3 wildfire PM2.5), and (e) average of the annual mean wildfire PM2.5 concentrations. To spatially compare wildfire PM2.5 exposure among incarcerated people to non-incarcerated neighbors, population-weighted exposure metrics were calculated for each tract containing incarcerated people and compared to surrounding tracts' exposures using non-incarcerated population weights. Across California, census tracts containing incarcerated people had heightened wildfire-attributable PM2.5 exposures and a large proportion of California's incarcerated population (48.5%) resided in tracts in the highest quartile of non-zero wildfire PM2.5 days compared to non-incarcerated people (25.9%). Prisons and jails in areas that have high wildfire smoke exposure levels should improve ventilation capabilities, provide protective equipment and develop preparedness plans.

Duke Scholars

Author Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein Population Health Sciences