Hazard Screening of Chemical Releases and Environmental Equity Analysis of Populations Proximate to Toxic Release Inventory Facilities in Oregon

Neumann, Catherine M.; Forman, Debra L.; Rothlein, Joan E.

doi:10.2307/3433967

Cited by 35 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Since block group traffic density is related to vehicle emissions and was moderately correlated with the ambient concentrations of several vehicle-related pollutants, children living in these areas have higher potential for exposure. Other studies in the US have found that low-income neighborhoods and communities of color are more likely to be located near sources of pollution (Perlin et al, 1995;Korc, 1996;Neumann et al, 1998;Perlin et al, 1999Perlin et al, , 2001Morello-Frosch et al, 2002). Our results, from a large and heterogeneous state, provide further evidence that low-income and people of color are more likely to live near sources of toxic emissions, in this case freeways and major roads.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 70%

“…A census tract level analysis in three parts of the US observed that African Americans and those living below the poverty level were more likely to live closer to the nearest industrial facility and to live near multiple facilities (Perlin et al, 1999(Perlin et al, , 2001. A similar evaluation conducted in Oregon found that industrial facilities were disproportionately located in minority and low-income neighborhoods, but there was no relation between hazard ranking and overall socioeconomic status (SES) of the community (Neumann et al, 1998). An assessment of ozone exposure in Southern California concluded that low-income areas generally experience higher ozone concentrations than high-income areas (Korc, 1996).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Traffic density in California: Socioeconomic and ethnic differences among potentially exposed children

Gunier

Hertz

Behren

et al. 2003

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol

190

135

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Motor vehicles are the main source of many hazardous air pollutants in California. Previous studies have shown that low-income and minority populations are more likely to live near industrial sources of pollution and in areas that do not meet national air quality standards. We estimated neighborhood exposures to motor vehicle emissions from a road network with daily traffic counts using a geographic information system. To calculate traffic density, we summed the average daily vehicle miles of travel per square mile of land area for each census block group in the state. We used 1990 census data to characterize the population by age, race and socioeconomic status in block groups with high traffic density. Block groups with more than 500,000 vehicle miles of travel per square mile were defined to be high traffic density. Statewide, about 5% of all block groups met this criterion and more than 215,000 children under 15 years of age lived in these high traffic density areas. Block groups in the lowest quartile of median family income were three times more likely to have high traffic density than block groups in the highest income quartile. The percentage of children living in high traffic density block groups increased with decreasing median family income for all race and ethnicities except White. Overall, children of color were about three times more likely to live in high-traffic areas than were white children. Based on this analysis, low-income and children of color have higher potential exposure to vehicle emissions. Future exposure assessment studies should target the highest traffic density areas, and health studies should consider the differences by income and race or ethnicity during design.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 70%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Traffic density in California: Socioeconomic and ethnic differences among potentially exposed children

Gunier

Hertz

Behren

et al. 2003

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol

190

135

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…1b). These two distances were chosen to correspond to those used in environmental justice studies conducted in the USA (Neumann et al, 1998;Abel 2008;Kearney and Kiros, 2009) and to approximate the dimensions of Toronto census tracts (average area = 1.2 km 2 ).…”

Section: Spatial Assessment Of Air Pollutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The effects were stronger when weights were applied to account for toxicity of the waste. However, in another study the relationship between the hazard ranking of a toxic release inventory facility and a neighbourhood's socio-economic status was not significant (Neumann et al, 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying inequitable exposure to toxic air pollution in racialized and low-income neighbourhoods to support pollution prevention

et al. 2013

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Abstract.Numerous environmental justice studies have confirmed a relationship between population characteristics such as low-income or minority status and the location of environmental health hazards. However, studies of the health risks from exposure to harmful substances often do not consider their toxicological characteristics. We used two different methods, the unit-hazard and the distance-based approach, to evaluate demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the population residing near industrial facilities in the City of Toronto, Canada. In addition to the mass of air emissions obtained from the national pollutant release inventory (NPRI), we also considered their toxicity using toxic equivalency potential (TEP) scores. Results from the unit-hazard approach indicate no significant difference in the proportion of low-income individuals living in host versus non-host census tracts (t(107) = 0.3, P = 0.735). However, using the distance-based approach, the proportion of low-income individuals was significantly higher (+5.1%, t(522) = 6.0, P <0.001) in host tracts, while the indicator for "racialized" communities ("visible minority") was 16.1% greater (t(521) = 7.2, P <0.001) within 2 km of a NPRI facility. When the most toxic facilities by non-carcinogenic TEP score were selected, the rate of visible minorities living near the most toxic NPRI facilities was significantly higher (+12.9%, t(352) = 3.5, P = 0.001) than near all other NPRI facilities. TEP scores were also used to identify areas in Toronto that face a double burden of poverty and air toxics exposure in order to prioritise pollution prevention.

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“…One rare study attempting to tease out the causal direction between the placement of toxic sites and the presence of racial/ethnic minorities focused on tracts within the city of Los Angeles over three decades (Pastor et al 2001). This limited literature suggests an important need for further longitudinal studies.Our study addresses the following questions: 1) what is the relative proximity to toxic waste sites for minority groups over a ten year period from 1990 to 2000; 2) do neighborhoods with more highly educated residents experience less proximity to toxic waste sites; and 3) do these effects differ if we take into account the toxicity of the emitted wastes (Ash, and Fetter 2004;Brooks, and Sethi 1997;Neumann, Forman, and Rothlein 1998;Sicotte, and Swanson 2007). Beyond our longitudinal approach, we assess the impact of toxic sites on neighborhood Disproportionate toxicity proximity 6 residents by measuring the pounds of release weighted by a measure of its toxicity, and apportioning this value to a one-mile circle around the site rather than simply attributing it to the census tract in which the site is located (other studies using this approach include Bolin et al 2002;Mohai, and Saha 2006).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Social disparities in health: Disproportionate toxicity proximity in minority communities over a decade

Hipp

Lakon

2010

Health & Place

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This study employs latent trajectory models measuring the level of toxic waste over a decade in the cities of six highly populated, ethnically diverse, counties in southern California from 1990-2000 in 3,001 tracts. We find that tracts with 15% more Latinos are exposed to 84.3% more toxic waste than an average tract over this time period and tracts with 15% more Asians are exposed to 33.7% more toxic waste. Conversely, tracts with one standard deviation more residents with at least a bachelor's degree (15.5%) are exposed to 88.8% less toxic waste than an average tract. We also found that these effects were considerably weaker when using the raw pounds of toxic waste rather than the toxicity-weighted measure, suggesting that future research will want to account for the toxicity of the waste.Keywords: environmental justice, neighborhoods, longitudinal, race/ethnicity. (Been 1995;Bolin et al. 2002;Downey 1998;Hite 2000;Hockman, and Morris 1998;Krieg 1995;Mohai, and Saha 2006;Pastor, Sadd, and Hipp 2001). This puts those living in such communities at risk for exposures that may be related to numerous diseases and disabilities.The extensive literature studying possible disproportionate proximity among racial and ethnic minority populations to toxic waste largely employs cross-sectional designs and analyses (Anderton et al. 1994;Baden, and Coursey 2002;Been 1995;Bolin et al. 2002;Downey 1998;Hite 2000;Hockman, and Morris 1998;Krieg 1995;Mohai, and Saha 2006;Pastor, Sadd, and Morello-Frosch 2004;Sadd et al. 1999;Stretesky, and Hogan 1998). Furthermore, this literature focusing on the potential for possible disproportionate proximity to hazardous wastes based on race and socioeconomic status yields mixed findings: whereas several studies suggest a positive relationship between the proportion minority in a neighborhood (i.e., usually measured as tracts, a Census Bureau defined unit of approximately 4,000 persons) and the number of toxic waste Disproportionate toxicity proximity 2 sites (Been 1995;Bolin et al. 2002;Downey 1998;Hite 2000;Hockman, and Morris 1998;Krieg 1995;Mohai, and Saha 2006;Pastor et al. 2001), some studies have not detected such a relationship for African-Americans specifically (Anderton et al. 1994;Baden, and Coursey 2002;Sadd et al. 1999;Stretesky, and Hogan 1998) or minorities more generally (Bowen et al. 1995).Likewise, whereas some studies find a negative relationship between a neighborhood's economic resources and the presence of toxic sites (Bolin et al. 2002;Downey 1998;Hockman, and Morris 1998;Krieg 1995;Mohai, and Saha 2006), others have failed to find such a relationship (Baden, and Coursey 2002;Boer et al. 1997;Davidson, and Anderton 2000).Cross-sectional studies have limited ability to ascertain the causes of such proximity to toxic exposures among minority populations given that they only provide a snapshot of the process (Northridge et al. 2003). Indeed, there are competing viewpoints as to why minorities' disproportionate proximity to toxic sites is frequently observed in cross...

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Hazard Screening of Chemical Releases and Environmental Equity Analysis of Populations Proximate to Toxic Release Inventory Facilities in Oregon

Cited by 35 publications

References 24 publications

Traffic density in California: Socioeconomic and ethnic differences among potentially exposed children

Traffic density in California: Socioeconomic and ethnic differences among potentially exposed children

Identifying inequitable exposure to toxic air pollution in racialized and low-income neighbourhoods to support pollution prevention

Social disparities in health: Disproportionate toxicity proximity in minority communities over a decade

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