Mobility-driven estimate reveals elevated air pollution exposure and socioeconomic disparities beyond residence-based approaches in Boston.

Nail F Bashan, Yang Zhang, Michelle L Bell, Qi R Wang

Abstract read

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Article in Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Nail F Bashan *Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, 02115, MA, USA.

Yang Zhang *Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, 02115, MA, USA.

Michelle L Bell *School of Environment, Yale University, New Haven, 06520, CT, USA.

Qi R WangDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, 02115, MA, USA. q.wang@northeastern.edu.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundResidence-based air pollution exposure assessments ignore daily human mobility and may misrepresent exposure levels and disparities across population groups.

objectiveWe hypothesize that incorporating high-resolution mobility trajectories into exposure modeling will reveal higher average PM

methodsWe analyzed 155,000 trip records from 990 Boston-area participants (June-December 2023) collected via smartphone GPS, linked to PM

resultsMobility-informed exposures averaged 0.10 µg/m SIGNIFICANCE: These findings demonstrate that neglecting mobility systematically underestimates exposure levels and obscures environmental injustices. IMPACT STATEMENT: Integrating dynamic mobility data with hyperlocal air quality monitoring provides a refined framework for accurate exposure assessment, informing equitable public health policies and targeted interventions.

Indexed as

Air PollutantsAir PollutionEnvironmental ExposureEnvironmental MonitoringParticulate MatterAdultAgedBostonFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedResidence CharacteristicsSocioeconomic Disparities in HealthSocioeconomic FactorsAir PollutantsParticulate MatterExposure assessment biasHuman mobility–informed PM2.5 exposureSociodemographic disparities

Identifiers

PMID41203827

DOI10.1038/s41370-025-00820-z

PMCPMC12960195

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.