Acute Exposure to Extremely Hazardous Substances: An Analysis of Environmental Equity

Jayajit Chakraborty

Risk Analysis, 2001, vol. 21, issue 5, 883-883

Abstract: Although environmental equity research has focused primarily on chronic pollution sources, recent advances in environmental modeling and geographic information systems (GIS) provide a foundation for developing measures that can be used to evaluate differential exposure to acute pollution events. This article describes a methodology that uses facility‐specific information to develop a risk surface representing the spatial distribution of accidental exposure to hazardous substances in a study area. Environmental pollution models recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency were used in conjunction with GIS software to achieve this objective. The methodology was implemented in a large metropolitan region (Hillsborough County, Florida) to examine disproportionate exposure to worst‐case releases of extremely hazardous substances. The environmental inequity hypothesis was investigated by directly comparing the distribution of potential exposures within each racial (non‐White versus White) and income (below poverty versus above poverty) subgroup. The results indicate that a significantly large proportion of both non‐White and impoverished individuals resided in areas potentially exposed to multiple accidental releases.

Date: 2001
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https://doi.org/10.1111/0272-4332.215159

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wly:riskan:v:21:y:2001:i:5:p:883-883

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