Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-7360, USA.
Environ Sci Technol. 2009 Oct 15;43(20):7626-34. doi: 10.1021/es901041p.
Researchers in environmental justice contend that low-income communities and communities of color face greater impacts from environmental hazards. This is also of concern for policy makers. In this context, our paper has two principal objectives. First, we propose a method for creating an index capable of summarizing racial-ethnic and socioeconomic inequalities from the impact of cumulative environmental hazards. Second, we apply the index to Los Angeles County to illustrate the potential applications and complexities of its implementation. Individual environmental inequality indices are calculated based on unequal shares of environmental hazards for racial-ethnic groups and socioeconomic positions. The illustrated hazards include ambient concentrations of particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, and estimates of cancer risk associated with modeled estimates for diesel particulate matter. The cumulative environmental hazard inequality index (CEHII) then combines individual environmental hazards, using either a multiplicative or an additive model. Significant but modest inequalities exist for both individual and cumulative environmental hazards in Los Angeles. The highest level of inequality among racial-ethnic and socioeconomic groups occurs when a multiplicative model is used to estimate cumulative hazard. The CEHII provides a generalized framework that incorporates environmental hazards and socioeconomic characteristics to assess inequalities in cumulative environmental risks.
环境正义研究人员认为，低收入社区和少数族裔社区面临更大的环境危害影响。这也是政策制定者关注的问题。在这种情况下，我们的论文有两个主要目标。首先，我们提出了一种方法，用于创建一个指数，能够总结累积环境危害对种族和社会经济不平等的影响。其次，我们将该指数应用于洛杉矶县，说明其实施的潜在应用和复杂性。基于种族群体和社会经济地位对环境危害的不平等分配，计算个别环境不平等指数。所说明的危害包括环境颗粒物、二氧化氮的浓度以及与模型化的柴油颗粒物相关的癌症风险估计。累积环境危害不平等指数 (CEHII) 然后使用乘法或加法模型组合个别环境危害。在洛杉矶，个人和累积环境危害都存在显著但适度的不平等。当使用乘法模型来估计累积危害时，种族和社会经济群体之间的不平等程度最高。CEHII 提供了一个通用框架，将环境危害和社会经济特征结合起来，以评估累积环境风险的不平等。
