Inequality in exposure to air pollution in France: bringing pollutant cocktails into the picture

Résumé En

I estimate the relationship between income, the number of days of exposure to the four main air pollutants and the proportion of "cocktail days" with French municipal data over the period 2012-2018. I find contrasting results between rural and urban areas. The most affluent urban municipalities have on average a lower number of pollution days compared to the poorest urban municipalities. In urban areas, the pollution days are composed of an equal proportion of cocktail days between the poorest and the most affluent municipalities. On the other hand, in the rural areas the better-off municipalities have on average a higher number of days of pollution, composed of more toxic mixtures, compared to the poorer municipalities. I also show that the pollution levels and the difference in the number of pollution days between the better-off and poorer municipalities are higher in urban areas.