A Cumulative Framework for Identifying Overburdened Populations under the Toxic Substances Control Act

Formaldehyde Case Study

Bibliographic Data

ID15463567
AuthorsKristi Pullen Fedinick (0000-0001-8825-9700, Natural Resources Defense Council, corresponding author), Ilch Yiliqi (Natural Resources Defense Council), Yukyan Lam (0000-0003-1691-1194, Natural Resources Defense Council), David Lennett (Natural Resources Defense Council), Veena Singla (0000-0002-5107-0717, Natural Resources Defense Council), Miriam Rotkin-Ellman (Natural Resources Defense Council), Jennifer Sass (0000-0003-1279-9510, Natural Resources Defense Council, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume18
Issue11
Pages6002-6002
Publication date2021-06-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1661-7827 • E-ISSN: 1660-4601
PublisherMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3390/ijerph18116002
PMID34205009
OpenAlexW3173058379
LanguageEN
References cited17

Extensive scholarship has demonstrated that communities of color, low-income communities, and Indigenous communities face greater environmental and health hazards compared to communities with more White or affluent people. Low-income, Indigenous, Black, and/or other populations of color are also more likely to lack access to health care facilities, healthy food, and adequate formal education opportunities. Despite the mountains of evidence that demonstrate the existence and significance of the elevated toxic social and environmental exposures experienced by these communities, the inclusion of these factors into chemical evaluations has been scarce. In this paper, we demonstrate a process built with publicly available data and simple geospatial techniques that could be utilized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) to incorporate cumulative approaches into risk assessments under the Toxic Substances Control Act. The use of these approaches, particularly as they relate to identifying potentially exposed and susceptible subpopulations, would help USEPA develop appropriate risk estimates and mitigation strategies to protect disproportionately burdened populations from the adverse effects of chemical exposures. By utilizing such approaches to inform risk evaluation and mitigation, USEPA can identify and protect those most burdened and impacted by toxic chemicals, and finally begin to close the gap of environmental health inequities

Agency (philosophy · Biology · Business · Computer security · Environmental health · Environmental justice · Environmental planning · Geography · Geospatial analysis · Indigenous · Risk assessment · Sociology · Climate Change and Health Impacts · Environmental and Social Impact Assessments · Environmental Justice and Health Disparities · Medicine · Ecology

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