Center for Precision Environmental Health, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, UTHealth School of Public Health, Houston, Texas, USA.
Environ Health Perspect. 2023 Jun;131(6):67006. doi: 10.1289/EHP11405. Epub 2023 Jun 7.
Exposures to environmental contaminants can be influenced by social determinants of health. As a result, persons living in socially disadvantaged communities may experience disproportionate health risks from environmental exposures. Mixed methods research can be used to understand community-level and individual-level exposures to chemical and nonchemical stressors contributing to environmental health disparities. Furthermore, community-based participatory research (CBPR) approaches can lead to more effective interventions.
We applied mixed methods to identify environmental health perceptions and needs among metal recyclers and residents living in disadvantaged neighborhoods near metal recycling facilities in Houston, Texas, in a CBPR study, Metal Air Pollution Partnership Solutions (MAPPS). Informed by what we learned and our previous findings from cancer and noncancer risk assessments of metal air pollution in these neighborhoods, we developed an action plan to lower metal aerosol emissions from metal recycling facilities and enhance community capacity to address environmental health risks.
Key informant interviews, focus groups, and community surveys were used to identify environmental health concerns of residents. A diverse group from academia, an environmental justice advocacy group, the community, the metal recycling industry, and the local health department collaborated and translated these findings, along with results from our prior risk assessments, to inform a multifaceted public health action plan.
An evidence-based approach was used to develop and implement neighborhood-specific action plans. Plans included a voluntary framework of technical and administrative controls to reduce metal emissions in the metal recycling facilities, direct lines of communication among residents, metal recyclers, and local health department officials, and environmental health leadership training.
Using a CBPR approach, health risk assessment findings based on outdoor air monitoring campaigns and community survey results informed a multipronged environmental health action plan to mitigate health risks associated with metal air pollution. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP11405.
环境污染物的暴露可能受到健康社会决定因素的影响。因此，生活在社会劣势社区的人可能会因环境暴露而面临不成比例的健康风险。混合方法研究可用于了解导致环境健康差异的化学和非化学应激因素的社区层面和个体层面的暴露情况。此外，基于社区的参与式研究（CBPR）方法可以导致更有效的干预措施。
我们在德克萨斯州休斯顿的金属回收设施附近处于劣势社区的金属回收商和居民中开展了一项基于社区的参与式研究（MAPPS），即金属空气污染伙伴关系解决方案（MAPPS），应用混合方法来确定他们对环境健康的看法和需求。根据我们在这些社区中进行的金属空气污染癌症和非癌症风险评估中所学到的知识和我们之前的发现，我们制定了一项行动计划，以降低金属回收设施的金属气溶胶排放，并增强社区应对环境健康风险的能力。
使用关键知情人访谈、焦点小组和社区调查来确定居民的环境健康关注点。一个由学术界、环境正义倡导组织、社区、金属回收行业和当地卫生部门组成的多元化团队合作，并将这些发现以及我们之前的风险评估结果转化为一个多方面的公共卫生行动计划。
采用循证方法制定和实施了针对特定社区的行动计划。计划包括一个自愿的技术和管理控制框架，以减少金属回收设施中的金属排放，建立居民、金属回收商和当地卫生部门官员之间的直接沟通渠道，以及进行环境健康领导力培训。
通过 CBPR 方法，基于户外空气监测活动和社区调查结果的健康风险评估结果为多方面的环境健康行动计划提供了信息，以减轻与金属空气污染相关的健康风险。https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP11405.
