Unequal exposure to ecological hazards: environmental injustices in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Environmental Health Perspectives
Daniel R Faber, Eric J Krieg

Abstract

This study analyzes the social and geographic distribution of ecological hazards across 368 communities in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Combining census data with a variety of environmental data, we tested for and identified both income-based and racially based biases to the geographic distribution of 17 different types of environmentally hazardous sites and industrial facilities. We also developed a composite measure of cumulative exposure to compare the relative overall risks characteristic of each community. To the best of our knowledge, this point system makes this the first environmental justice study to develop a means for measuring and ranking cumulative exposure for communities. The study also controls for the intensity of hazards in each community by accounting for the area across which hazards are distributed. The findings indicate that ecologically hazardous sites and facilities are disproportionately located and concentrated in communities of color and working-class communities. The implication of this research for policymakers and citizen advocates is that cumulative exposure of residents to environmentally hazardous facilities and sites should receive greater consideration regarding community demographics an...Continue Reading

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Citations

Dec 31, 2003·Environmental Health Perspectives·Germaine M BuckSteven M Schrader
Sep 7, 2007·Environmental Health Perspectives·Jennifer M NortonAltha J Cravey
Nov 6, 2009·American Journal of Public Health·David ChenowethChristopher Lee
Jul 8, 2010·Environmental Health : a Global Access Science Source·Timothy J DownsRobert Goble
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Mar 24, 2010·The Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine, New York·Philip J LandriganMaida P Galvez
Sep 1, 2018·New Solutions : a Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy : NS·Kaitlyn W Meirs, Marilyn V Howarth
May 13, 2015·Environmental Health Perspectives·Elizabeth HooverPhil Brown
May 16, 2015·Environmental Health Perspectives·Philip J LandriganRobert H Tukey
Nov 6, 2002·Environmental Health Perspectives·Csaba VargaIstván Ember
Nov 21, 2002·Environmental Health Perspectives·Peggy L Davis
Nov 21, 2002·Environmental Health Perspectives·Offie Porat Soldin
Sep 11, 2007·Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health·Barbara HackleyJane Dixon
Mar 12, 2005·Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine·Elizabeth S SafranFelicia Pharagood-Wade
Feb 20, 2019·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health·Flavia C PeréaLinda S Sprague Martinez
Dec 31, 2016·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health·Hongtai Huang, Timothy M Barzyk

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