Environmental injustice in estimated cancer risk from airborne toxics exposure across United States communities

Abstract

US Census Bureau data was matched to estimated cancer risk by US EPA from 2011 to 2018 to explore environmental justice on a national level with census tract resolution for a wide range of airborne toxins. Spearman correlations showed modest associations between various socio-demographic status factors and estimated cancer risk. Multiple linear regressions analyses showed increases in the numbers of minorities relative to White individuals were positively associated with increased estimated cancer risk in urban areas (p <0.05), but only for high proportions of Blacks in suburban and rural areas. Urban tracts suffer from highest estimated cancer risks were concentrated among the communities with population of higher density of minority and lack of education. While in general environmental justice seems improved across the examined years, equity is far from achieved and future work in identifying the sources of environmental injustice could help in achieving a more just environment.