Overview

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CalEnviroScreen 4.0 (CES 4.0) is a data source and mapping tool created by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) to identify census tracts in California most burdened by environmental hazards and correlated health outcomes. Environmental, health, and socioeconomic data are used to create a score for each census tract, with higher scores indicating higher levels of environmental hazards and social vulnerability. This dashboard seeks to investigate which county in the Bay Area has the highest level of annual mean particulate matter 2.5 (PM 2.5) concentration, in which the relationship between PM 2.5 concentration, age-adjusted rate of emergency department (ED) visits for asthma, and percent of population living 2 times below the poverty level is assessed by census tracts within that county. After grouping the data by county and constructing a box plot in Figure 1, Napa County had the highest mean PM 2.5 concentration among the 9 Bay Area counties, and was selected for further county-level analyses through a bubble chart in Figure 2, with larger and darker bubbles indicating higher percentages of poverty. There is a positive but relatively weak association between PM 2.5 concentrations and ED visits for Asthma among census tracts in Napa County (Pearson’s r = 0.355), but higher percentages of poverty appear to be present in census tracts with higher levels of both PM 2.5 concentration and asthma hospitalizations. Investigating this relationship is vital because lower-resourced communities often reside in areas with higher exposure to environmental hazards, and census tracts with high levels of poverty, PM 2.5, and asthma hospitalization can be identified for more targeted public health interventions.

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