How environmental racism is fuelling the coronavirus pandemic

Washington, Harriet A.

doi:10.1038/d41586-020-01453-y

Cited by 28 publications

(23 citation statements)

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“…pollution, food deserts) experienced by minority populations. (42) This could very well be driving some of the adverse health outcomes, and by using patients' zip code to determine ADI, we sought to minimize the confounding of Furthermore, Hispanic patients had the highest odds of hospital admission despite having less comorbidities. These findings highlight and support the alarming fact that minorities have a higher risk of severe infection that is not attributable solely to baseline health conditions or socio-economic factors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Hospital Admissions from COVID-19 and Determining the Impact of Neighborhood Deprivation and Primary Language

Ingraham

Purcell

Karam

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Importance Despite past and ongoing efforts to achieve health equity in the United States, persistent disparities in socioeconomic status along with multilevel racism maintain disparate outcomes and appear to be amplified by COVID-19. Objective Measure socioeconomic factors and primary language effects on the risk of COVID-19 severity across and within racial/ethnic groups. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Health records of 12 Midwest hospitals and 60 clinics in the U.S. between March 4, 2020 to August 19, 2020. Participants PCR+ COVID-19 patients. Patients missing race or ethnicity data or those diagnosed with COVID-19 during a hospitalization were excluded. Exposures Main exposures included race/ethnicity, area deprivation index (ADI), and primary language. Main Outcomes and Measures The primary outcome was COVID-19 severity using hospitalization within 45 days of diagnosis. Logistic and competing-risk regression models (censored at 45 days and accounting for the competing risk of death prior to hospitalization) assessed the effects of neighborhood-level deprivation (using the ADI) and primary language. Within race effects of ADI and primary language were measured using logistic regression. Results 5,577 COVID-19 patients were included, 866 (n=15.5%) were hospitalized within 45 days of diagnosis. Hospitalized patients were older (60.9 years, IQR: 45.7-75.9 vs. 40.4 years, IQR: 25.6-58.3, p<0.001) and more likely to be male (n=425 [49.1%] vs. 2,049 [43.5%], p=0.002). Of those requiring hospitalization, 43.9% (n=381), 19.9% (n=172), 18.6% (n=161), and 11.8% (n=102) were White, Black, Asian, and Hispanic, respectively. Independent of ADI, minority race/ethnicity was associated with COVID-19 severity; Hispanic patients (OR 3.8, 95% CI 2.72-5.30), Asians (OR 2.39, 95% CI 1.74-3.29), and Blacks (OR 1.50, 95% CI 1.15-1.94). Surprisingly ADI was not associated with hospitalization; however, consistent trends within racial/ethnic groups were observed. Furthermore, non-English speaking (OR 1.91, 95% CI 1.51-2.43) significantly increased odds of hospital admission across and within minority groups. Conclusions Minority populations have increased odds of severe COVID-19 independent of neighborhood deprivation, a commonly suspected driver of disparate outcomes during the pandemic. Non-English speaking also accounts for between and within minority populations. These results support continued concern that racism contributes to disparities during COVID-19 while also highlighting the underappreciated role primary language plays in COVID-19 severity across and within minority groups.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…pollution, food deserts) experienced by minority populations. (42) This could very well be driving some of the adverse health outcomes, and by using patients’ zip code to determine ADI, we sought to minimize the confounding of this variable. Limited data regarding area deprivation and COVID-19 exist, specifically in the United States.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Hospital Admissions from COVID-19 and Determining the Impact of Neighborhood Deprivation and Primary Language

Ingraham

Purcell

Karam

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…Environmental racism can manifest itself as racial discrimination in environmental policymaking, enforcement of regulation and laws, the deliberate targeting of communities of color for toxic waste disposal and siting of polluting industries, the official sanctioning of lifethreatening poisons and pollutants in communities of color, and the history of excluding people of color from mainstream environmental groups, decision-making boards, commissions, and regulatory bodies (Chavis Jr., 1993). The main culprits of environmental racism include ignorance and indifference, insufficient testing of industrial chemicals, racism, housing and work discrimination, corporate greed, and negligent legislation (Washington, 2020a). Environmental equity can imply an equal sharing of environmental risk burdens and effects of environmental degradation (Cutter, 1995).…”

Section: Definitionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19 and Environmental Racism: Challenges and Recommendations

Njoku

2021

EUROPEAN J ENV PUBLI

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COVID-19, the pandemic of highly contagious respiratory disease, presents a global public health emergency. Racial and ethnic minority groups in the USA are more likely to contract, be hospitalized with, and die from COVID-19 versus whites, highlighting glaring health disparities. Injustices such as the persistent issue of police brutality against Blacks in the USA, along with the racial disparities and inequities underscored by the COVID-19 pandemic, have brought renewed global focus to issues of social justice in the USA. Moreover, there is a need to examine how environmental racism intensifies the COVID-19 pandemic and illuminates racial inequities in exposure to environmental pollutants. This article describes environmental racism and its impact on people of color in the USA, critically examines how this practice elevates disease risk among racial and ethnic minorities already susceptible to COVID-19, and proposes recommendations to tackle this pervasive issue.

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“…The financial stressors faced disproportionately by African Americans, compared with European Americans, are, of course related to the racism, discrimination, and SEPE factors reviewed by Pike (2005) and Kuzawa and Sweet (2009). A Nature commentary by Harriet A. Washington titled, “How environmental racism fuels pandemics”, brings into sharp focus the connection between toxic SEPE living conditions and inflated COVID‐19 death rates for African Americans and other minority ethnic groups in the U.S., the UK, and elsewhere (Washington, 2020).…”

Section: Maternal Stress and Low Birth Weightmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID‐19, crisis, and emotional stress: A biocultural perspective of their impact on growth and development for the next generation

Bogin

Varea

2020

American J Hum Biol

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How environmental racism is fuelling the coronavirus pandemic

Abstract: Toxic living conditions inflate COVID-19 death rates. Scientists must track how and why.

Cited by 28 publications

References 0 publications

Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Hospital Admissions from COVID-19 and Determining the Impact of Neighborhood Deprivation and Primary Language

Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Hospital Admissions from COVID-19 and Determining the Impact of Neighborhood Deprivation and Primary Language

COVID-19 and Environmental Racism: Challenges and Recommendations

COVID‐19, crisis, and emotional stress: A biocultural perspective of their impact on growth and development for the next generation

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