Abstract

It is well established that social gradients in health are well established in England, and it has been estimated that between 1.3 and 2.5 million years of life are lost because of health inequalities. Socially and economically disadvantaged people may experience increased susceptibility to the negative air pollution-related health effects, ranging from conditions such as respiratory irritation and cardiovascular disease to premature death, as a result of higher underlying baseline disease rates in deprived communities. The relationships between the geographical distribution of vulnerable communities and air pollution are, however, we investigate whether differences in observed national patterns differ by country and government region by analysing variations in air pollution exposure by subpopulation across Great Britain. For each of the air pollution scenarios, we are able to identify the region’s most vulnerable to environmental inequality as a result of this.