Annals of Epidemiology
Volume 39, 2019, Pages 54-62

Exposures at day labor corners: using existing georeferenced data to describe features of urban environments (Article)

Fernández-Esquer M.E. , Hughes A.E.* , Pruitt S.L.
  • a Department of Health Promotion & Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas School of Public Health, Houston, TX, United States
  • b Department of Population and Data Sciences, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States, Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, Dallas, TX, United States
  • c Department of Population and Data Sciences, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States, Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, Dallas, TX, United States

Abstract

Purpose: Latino day laborers are male immigrants from mainly Mexico and Central America who congregate at corners, that is, informal hiring sites, to solicit short-term employment. Studies describing the occupational environment of Latino day laborers traditionally measure jobsite exposures, not corner exposures. We sought to elucidate exposures at corners by describing their demographic, socioeconomic, occupational, business, built, and physical environmental characteristics and by comparing corner characteristics with other locations in a large urban county in Texas. Methods: We used multiple publicly available data sets from the U.S. Census, local tax authority, Google's Nearby Places Application Programming Interface, and Environmental Protection Agency at fine spatial scale to measure 34 characteristics of corners with matched comparison locations. Results: Corners were located close to highways, high-traffic intersections, hardware and moving stores, and gas stations. Corners were in neighborhoods with large foreign-born and Latino populations, high rates of limited English proficiency, and high construction-sector employment. Conclusions: Publicly available data sources describe demographic, socioeconomic, occupational, business, built, and physical environment characteristics of urban environments at fine spatial scale. Using these data, we identified unique corner-based exposures experienced by day laborers. Future research is needed to understand how corner environments may influence health for this uniquely vulnerable population. © 2019 Elsevier Inc.

Author Keywords

Neighborhood exposures Occupational exposures Latino health Day laborers Urban context

Index Keywords

vulnerable population urban area immigrant population demography traffic environmental protection human priority journal comparative study geographic distribution neighborhood United States foreign worker Hispanic worker male occupation occupational exposure socioeconomics Article highway Air quality employment

Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85074062240&doi=10.1016%2fj.annepidem.2019.09.003&partnerID=40&md5=fa19c7afe5f6e45771563754dd998b9e

DOI: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2019.09.003
ISSN: 10472797
Original Language: English