Racial/ethnic disparities in cumulative environmental health impacts in California: Evidence from a statewide environmental justice screening tool (CalEnviroScreen 1.1)

L. Cushing, J. Faust, L.M. August, R. Cendak, W. Wieland and G. Alexeeff

American Journal of Public Health, 2015, vol. 105, issue 11, 2341-2348

Abstract: Objectives. We used an environmental justice screening tool (CalEnviroScreen 1.1) to compare the distribution of environmental hazards and vulnerable populations across California communities. Methods. CalEnviroScreen 1.1 combines 17 indicators created from 2004 to 2013 publicly available data into a relative cumulative impact score. We compared cumulative impact scores across California zip codes on the basis of their location, urban or rural character, and racial/ethnic makeup. We used a concentration index to evaluate which indicators were most unequally distributed with respect to race/ ethnicity and poverty. Results. The unadjusted odds of living in one of the 10%most affected zip codes were 6.2, 5.8, 1.9, 1.8, and 1.6 times greater for Hispanics, African Americans, Native Americans, Asian/Pacific Islanders, and other or multiracial individuals, respectively, than for non-Hispanic Whites. Environmental hazards were more regressively distributed with respect to race/ethnicity than poverty, with pesticide use and toxic chemical releases being the most unequal. Conclusions. Environmental health hazards disproportionately burden communities of color in California. Efforts to reduce disparities in pollution burden can use simple screening tools to prioritize areas for action.

Keywords: dangerous goods; pesticide, analysis; ancestry group; asthma; California; dangerous goods; environment; ethnic group; human; low birth weight; pollution; poverty; small-area analysis; socioeconomics; statistics and numerical data; vulnerable population, Asthma; California; Continental Population Groups; Environment; Environmental Pollution; Ethnic Groups; Hazardous Substances; Humans; Infant, Low Birth Weight; Pesticides; Poverty; Small-Area Analysis; Socioeconomic Factors; Vulnerable Populations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (26)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.2105/AJPH.2015.302643

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2015.302643_5

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2015.302643

Access Statistics for this article

American Journal of Public Health is currently edited by Alfredo Morabia

More articles in American Journal of Public Health from American Public Health Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Christopher F Baum ().