Excerpt

[T]his report describes what the committee discovered as a result of its site visits and other data collection activities. Chapter 2 describes the evidence for the contention that exposures to environmental hazards and subsequent adverse health outcomes are borne disproportionately by communities of concern. Chapter 3 (Research) describes the application of the public health perspective to environmental justice and defines the integral roles that public health efforts and the public health community play in addressing environmental hazards. The chapter also addresses research questions and their context in environmental justice, concluding with recommendations for research and research methods. Chapter 4 (Education) focuses on the need for education and strategies that can be used to educate various sectors of the population regarding environmental risks, the prevention of disease, and the care and treatment of those exposed. It concludes with recommendations directed to the public at large and the public education system as well as to physicians and other heath professionals. Chapter 5 (Health Policy) addresses the limits of science and the effects of those limitations on policy decisions. It concludes with a discussion of the need to make policy decisions without conclusive data.

Contents

• Committee on Environmental Justice
• Reviewers
• Preface
• 1. Introduction and Executive Summary
  • CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS
  • THE COMMITTEE'S ORIGIN AND TASK
  • CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
  • ORGANIZATION OF THE REPORT
• 2. Establishing a Baseline
  • DISPARITIES IN HEALTH STATUS IN THE UNITED STATES
  • DISPARITIES IN EXPOSURE TO ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS
  • EXAMINING THE LINK BETWEEN EXPOSURE AND HEALTH
  • CONCLUSIONS
• 3. Research
  • RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES
  • RESEARCH CHALLENGES
  • CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
• 4. Education
  • HEALTH PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
  • EDUCATION OF THE PUBLIC
  • CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
• 5. Health Policy
  • CURRENT SCIENCE BASE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
  • EXPANDING THE POLICY PROCESS
  • CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
• References
• Appendixes
  • A Using Disease-Cluster and Small-Area Analyses to Study Environmental Justice
  • B Acknowledgments
  • C Acronyms
  • D Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations
  • E Committee and Staff Biographies

Support for this project was provided by the National Institutes of Health through the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Dental Research, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the National Institute for Nursing Research, the National Center for Human Genome Research, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the Office of Research on Minority Health, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and the National Center for Environmental Health (Task Order 14 of Contract No. N01-OD-4-2139). Additional funding was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through an interagency agreement with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

The views presented in this report are those of the Committee on Environmental Justice and are not necessarily those of the funding organization.

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.