Segregation and black/white differences in exposure to air toxics in 1990.

Abstract

Environmental Justice I examined non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White differences in exposure to noncriteria air pollutants in 44 U.S. Census Bureau-defined metropolitan areas with populations greater than one million, using data on air toxics concentrations prepared for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as part of its Cumulative Exposure Project combined with U.S. census data. I measured differences in exposure to air toxics through the calculation of a net difference score, which is a statistical measure used in income inequality analysis to measure inequality over the whole range of exposures. The scores ranged from 11.52 to 83.60. In every metropolitan area, non-Hispanic Blacks are more likely than non-Hispanic Whites to be living in tracts with higher total modeled air toxics concentrations. To assess potential reasons for such a wide variation in exposure differences, I performed a multiple regression analysis with the net difference score as the dependent variable. Independent variables initially included were as follows: the dissimilarity index (to measure segregation), Black poverty/White poverty (to control for Black/White economic differences), population density and percentage of persons traveling to work who drive to work (alone and in car pools), and percentage of workforce employed in manufacturing (factors affecting air quality). After an initial analysis I eliminated from the model the measures of density and the persons driving to work because they were statistically insignificant, they did not add to

Time Trend and Geographic Patterns of Lung Adenocarcinoma in the United States, 1973-2002

“…Blacks are more likely than Whites to be living in census tracts with higher total modeled air toxics in every large metropolitan area in the United States (22). Moreover, the indoor levels of NO 2 are often higher than the outdoor levels, and the NO 2 level is related to the size of the house (23).…”

Regional variation in environmental inequality: Industrial air toxics exposure in U.S. cities

“…for Racial Justice, 1987;Mohai and Bryant, 1992;Been and Gupta, 1997;Lopez, 2002;Bullard et al, 2008;Marshall, 2008;Wilson et al, 2012). Indeed, some have found no significant income disparities after controlling for race and ethnicity (Perlin et al, 1995;Brooks and Sethi, 1997;Hird and Reese, 1998;Stretesky and Hogan, 1998;Houston et al, 2013).…”

Reuse Choice, Flood Risk and Resilience, and Characteristics of Counties with Brownfield Cleanups

“…Historic industries in this area included smelting, oil refining, paint, plastic, chemical, and metal manufacture, warehousing, and transportation, and were associated with heavy metals, solvents, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and hazardous substances that can cause cancer, reproductive or developmental effects, and other target-organ effects [71]. In another example, McCarthy's examination of state environmental site registries for Milwaukee brownfield analysis included underground storage and waste tanks and dry-cleaning sites [46].…”