Environmental Justice

This is the definition of "environmental justice" provided by the United States Environmental Protection Agency:

"Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies."

Environmental justice is something that I have seen or heard about, and you would think that it is something that should not exist. But it does.

There is evidence of environmental racism even in the San Francisco Bay Area. One of the articles provided in the lecture examines how companies treat African Americans with environmental racism, and one of the examples takes place in our very own backyard - The Chevron Richmond Refinery. The company's pipelines transport gasoline and other chemicals resulting in toxic emissions and environmental health risks within the community that is predominantly populated by African Americans. Another example would be San Francisco's Bayview-Hunter's Point District that also has a higher percentage of African-Americans. From 1946-1969, the district used to be a shipyard for the U.S. Navy to fumigate ships and other military equipment used for atomic bomb testing. To this day, the shipyard has yet to be cleaned from the radiation contaminants causing health hazards to the community (San Francisco Chronicle, 2018).

When I hear of the phrase "social determinants of health," I do believe environmental justice is one of them, because the population that faces those challenges have an increase in environmental health risks. We can incorporate environmental justice into our work to address the negative social determinants of health by working with non-profit organizations and coalitions to improve environmental health disparities within communities through collaboration, education, and research.


In Harm's Way

I thought this read was very informative on the subject associating developmental disabilities with environmental and genetic factors. The statement that resonated with me was:

"Toxicologic exposures deserve special scrutiny because they are readily preventable."

I was surprised by the increasing incidences of childhood developmental disabilities over the years, yet there is still limited research or information on toxic chemical exposures and its effect on neurological development. A reason for the drastic rise in developmental disabilities could be due to the consistent revision to the "safe thresholds" for toxic chemicals. For example, the safe threshold for lead was 60 microgram/dL in 1960 compared to 10 microgram/dL in 1990. Another topic that I thought was fascinating was how chemical exposures can affect different stages of brain development. As a result, neurological disabilities might not be identified until later stages in childhood development. Additionally,  animal testing is done to study toxic exposures; however, the effects on animals might not foresee the effects on humans.