Key Words environmental justice, income, socioeconomic status, poverty, environmental risk s Abstract Among several viable explanations for the ubiquitous SES-health gradient is differential exposure to environmental risk. We document evidence of inverse relations between income and other indices of SES with environmental risk factors including hazardous wastes and other toxins, ambient and indoor air pollutants, water quality, ambient noise, residential crowding, housing quality, educational facilities, work environments, and neighborhood conditions. We then briefly overview evidence that such exposures are inimical to health and well-being. We conclude with a discussion of the research and policy implications of environmental justice, arguing that a particularly salient feature of poverty for health consequences is exposure to multiple environmental risk factors. SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS AND HEALTH: THE POTENTIAL ROLE OF ENVIRONMENTAL RISK EXPOSURESatisfactory explanation for the ubiquitous socioeconomic status-health gradient remains elusive, suggesting, in part, that an adequate model of this relation is probably complex and multifaceted (1, 81). In this paper we provide an overview of data indicating that income is inversely correlated with exposure to suboptimal environmental conditions. By environmental conditions we mean the physical properties of the ambient and immediate surroundings of children, youth, and families, including pollutants, toxins, noise, and crowding as well as exposure to settings such as housing, schools, work environments, and neighborhoods. We also briefly cite evidence that each of these environmental factors, in turn, is linked to health. The implicit conceptual model under discussion is as follows (Figure 1): As can be seen above, what we discuss is evidence for two necessary prerequisites for this model to be valid-namely that socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with environmental quality and, in turn, that environmental quality affects health. This is not equivalent, however, to the conclusion that SES effects on health are caused

With exponential growth in the number of elderly Americans living independently in the community, it is important to better understand the implications of living conditions for psychological well-being among the elderly population. In a cross-sectional study, housing quality is associated with positive affect among the older adults living independently in the community. Moreover, this relation is mediated by place attachment. Elderly residents of higher quality homes, independent of multiple sociodemographic factors (e.g., income, gender), feel more attached to their home, which, in turn, appears to account for the relation between housing quality and positive affect.