The Inequitable Impact of the Environment on Health

Population Healthy

According to a 2019 study published by the National Academy of Sciences,* African-Americans are exposed to 56% more pollution than they actually produce. Meanwhile, white Americans are exposed to 17% less pollution than they produce. African-Americans are also 75% more likely to live near industrial facilities than white Americans, compounding the risk for harmful environmental exposures that are tied to negative health outcomes like asthma, birth defects, cancer, and cardiovascular disorders.
In this episode we’ll hear from School of Public Health faculty, community partners, and alumni working in environmental policy about the disproportionate environmental risks that communities of color face in the age of climate change and what can be done at the policy-level to balance out inequitable burdens of poor environments and environmental health outcomes.
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