Toward Language Justice in Environmental Health Sciences in the United States: A Case for Spanish as a Language of Science

Abstract

Background: Increasingly, marginalized communities are disproportionately facing the worsening effects of environmental hazards, including air pollution, water pollution, and climate change. Language isolation and accessibility has been understudied as a determinant of health. Spanish, despite being the second-most common language in the United States with some 41.8 million speakers, has been neglected among environmental health scientists. Building capacity in high-quality Spanish-language science communication, both for scientific and nonscientific audiences, can yield improvements in health disparities research, public health literacy, international collaborations, and diversity and inclusion efforts. Objectives: In this article, we discuss the context of language diversity in environmental health sciences and offer recommendations for improving science communication in Spanish. Discussion: English is currently the predominant language for scientific discourse, but Spanish and other non-English languages are routinely used by many environmental health science students and professionals, as well as much of the public. To more effectively conduct and communicate environmental health work in Spanish, we suggest that researchers and scientific institutions a ) foster structural changes, b ) train emerging scholars and support established researchers, c ) tap into community ways of knowing, and d ) leverage emerging technologies. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP12306