Indoor Heat, Housing Characteristics, and Health in an Environmental Justice Community in New Orleans

In the U.S., heat is responsible for more fatalities than all other types of weather events, and these health consequences fall disproportionately on racially minoritized and low-income populations, in part, due to housing and environmental conditions which exacerbate heat exposure and limit adaptive capacity. Although individuals spend a large proportion of their day indoors, most health studies of heat use ambient outdoor temperature as an exposure metric. While air conditioning (AC) penetration is high in the U.S., for those that lack AC access, which is more commonly the case for low-income individuals, indoor environments can be much hotter than outdoor environments. In fact, evidence indicates that indoor residential temperatures are often higher than outdoor temperatures, even in homes with (wall or portable) air conditioning and these indoor environments can also remain hotter for longer periods of time than outdoor environments. The New Orleans Home, Environment, and Ambient Temperature: Measurements and Analysis for Preparedness (NOLA HEAT-MAP) Study enrolled 43 participants from the 9th Ward of New Orleans, LA, a predominantly African American neighborhood. Demographic and housing characteristic data was captured as part of an initial interview. Sensors were used to continuously monitor temperature and humidity in participants’ homes over a two- or four-week period. Participants also responded to daily surveys about their physical and mental health. This presentation will present early findings from the NOLA HEAT-MAP study, including descriptive information about indoor thermal environments which were highly variable across study participants (e.g., daily maximum temperature ranged from 71.8 F to 96.2 F), the relationship between housing characteristics and indoor thermal environments, and indoor environments and physical and mental health. The presentation will also cover the challenges and promise of collecting data on heat and health in historically disinvested and marginalized communities.