Toward Environmental Justice: Research, Education, and Health Policy Needs



Read Full Report Date: March 5, 1999 Contacts: Dan Quinn, Media Relations Officer Kristen Nye, Media Relations Assistant (202) 334-2138; e-mail <news@nas.edu> EMBARGOED: NOT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE BEFORE 10 A.M. EST FRIDAY, MARCH 5 Publication Announcement Better Information Needed to Guide Efforts in Addressing Environmental Justice Concerns have grown in recent years that industrial plants, waste facilities, and other potential polluters are more likely to be sited in poorer communities, and that pollutants from these facilities are making people sick. In response, a growing movement known as "environmental justice" has sought to ensure that no particular part of the population is disproportionately burdened by the negative effects of pollution. And researchers now are beginning to examine how these environmental hazards may affect human health. However, research so far has not generally been able to tie the health problems of minority and poor communities to environmental stressors such as chemicals, noise, or air pollutants, according to a new report from a committee of the Institute of Medicine. To fill this gap in the knowledge base, the report calls for more research that ultimately could help policy-makers weigh the possible environmental risks of a facility against the positive benefits -- like jobs and tax revenue -- that it might provide to local citizens. Based on information gathered in site visits to Arizona, Illinois, Louisiana, Texas, and Washington, as well as a review of the scientific literature, the committee concluded that there are identifiable communities of concern that are exposed to higher levels of pollutants than others, and are not well-equipped to deal with them because of a limited involvement in the political process. In addition, residents of these communities may not be aware of many of their exposures and may be more vulnerable to health problems because of poor nutrition, inadequate health care, and other factors. To help improve the level of information available to all parties, the report recommends actions in four key areas -- public health, research, education, and health policy. >Public health officials should rigorously apply the principles of risk assessment to identify the sources of potential problems; design and implement interventions to prevent them; and evaluate the effectiveness of those interventions in improving health. Federal, state, and local public health agencies need to work together more closely to collect and coordinate information on environmental health concerns and link it to affected populations and communities. >Researchers should acknowledge that environmental justice is a legitimate field of study and devote appropriate resources to it. They need to focus on four principles -- improving the science base, trying to collect data that is relevant to policy-makers, involving the concerned communities in their work, and communicating their findings to all stakeholders. >Educators should work to improve understanding of environmental justice issues among community residents and health professionals, including medical, nursing, and public health practitioners. They also should make efforts to increase the number of health professionals specializing in environmental and occupational medicine. >Policy-makers should take environmental justice concerns seriously, even if the field lacks a rigorous science base. They should be attentive to potential hazards and meticulous about involving the affected communities in the decision-making process. The study was sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A committee roster follows. The Institute of Medicine is a private, non-profit organization that provides health policy advice under a congressional charter granted to the National Academy of Sciences. Read the full text of *Toward Environmental Justice: Research, Education, and Health Policy Needs* for free on the Web, as well as more than 1,800 other publications from the National Academies. Printed copies are available for purchase from the National Academy Press Web site or at the mailing address in the letterhead; tel. (202) 334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242. Reporters may obtain a pre-publication copy from the Office of News and Public Information at the letterhead address (contacts listed above). INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE Division of Health Sciences Policy Committee on Environmental Justice *James R. Gavin III, M.D., Ph.D.()**(committee co-chair) Senior Scientific Officer Howard Hughes Medical Institute Chevy Chase, Md. Donald R. Mattison, M.D. (committee co-chair) Medical Director March of Dimes Birth Defect Foundation White Plains, N.Y. Regina Austin, J.D. William A. Schnader Professor of Law University of Pennsylvania Law School Philadelphia David R. Baines, M.D. Family Practice Physician St. Maries Family Medicine Clinic St. Maries, Idaho *Baruch Fischhoff, M.A., Ph.D.() Professor of Social and Decision Sciences, and Professor of Engineering and Public Policy Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh George Friedman-Jiménez, M.D., Ph.D. Director Occupational and Environmental Health Clinic Bellevue Hospital New York University New York City Bernard D. Goldstein, M.D.()* Director Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, and Professor and Chairman Department of Environmental and Community Medicine Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Piscataway, N.J. *James G. Haughton, M.D., M.P.H.() Medical Director Public Health Programs and Services Los Angeles County Department of Health Services Sandral Hullett, M.D., M.P.H.()* Executive Director West Alabama Health Services Inc. Eutaw Lovell A. Jones, M.S., Ph.D. Director, Experimental Gynecology-Endocrinology Department of Gyneologic-Oncology M.D. Anderson Cancer Center University of Texas Houston Charles Lee Director of Environmental Justice United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice New York City *Roger O. McClellan, D.V.M.() President Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology Research Triangle Park, N.C. Mary Ann Smith, Ph.D. Assistant Professor School of Public Health University of Texas Houston Walter J. Wadlington, LL.B.()* James Madison Professor of Law University of Virginia School of Law, and Professor of Legal Medicine University of Virginia School of Medicine Charlottesville INSTITUTE STAFF Andrew Pope, Ph.D. Study Director ^{_________________________________________} (*) Member, Institute of Medicine