Carlisle Nicholas A, MacCarthy Sarah, Burrell Karlie, Wickliffe Jeffrey
Department of Health Behavior, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health, Birmingham, AL, USA.
Center for the Study of Sexual and Gender Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health, Birmingham, AL, USA.
Environ Health Insights. 2024 Oct 30;18:11786302241296225. doi: 10.1177/11786302241296225. eCollection 2024.
Despite growing attention and guiding frameworks, we still know very little about how environmental exposures may be contributing to the health inequities experienced by sexual and gender minority (SGM) people, especially exposures beyond psycho-behavioral mechanisms that have traditionally been viewed as the pathways between minority stress and negative health outcomes. To address this gap in knowledge, we conducted a scoping review to determine the extent to which disparities in environmental exposures between SGM and non-SGM (ie, heterosexual and cisgender) populations have been measured in the United States. We searched PubMed for studies that were (1) peer-reviewed; (2) written in English; (3) quantitatively measured environmental exposures; (4) included 1 or more groups identifying as a sexual minority, gender minority, or both; (5) compared to the general population; (6) in the United States; and (7) published on or after January 1, 2011. Our scoping review identified very few studies that examined and documented environmental exposure disparities between SGM and non-SGM populations in the United States. These studies focused mostly on cigarette smoke exposures. None examined environmental exposure disparities between gender minority and cisgender populations. To address this critical gap in environmental health research for SGM populations in the short term, researchers can merge existing environmental data (eg, data from the Environmental Protection Agency) with SGM population data. Longer-term solutions require systematically including validated sexual orientation and gender identity measures across federal, state, and local datasets, as well as increased funding for original research that explores diverse environmental exposures. Taken together, these efforts can significantly advance our ability to identify and address environmental health inequities experienced by SGM people.
尽管受到越来越多的关注并出台了指导框架，但我们对环境暴露如何导致性取向和性别少数群体（SGM）所经历的健康不平等现象仍知之甚少，尤其是超出传统上被视为少数群体压力与负面健康结果之间途径的心理行为机制之外的暴露。为了填补这一知识空白，我们进行了一项范围审查，以确定在美国衡量SGM与非SGM（即异性恋和顺性别）人群之间环境暴露差异的程度。我们在PubMed上搜索了符合以下条件的研究：（1）经过同行评审；（2）用英文撰写；（3）定量测量环境暴露；（4）包括1个或更多识别为性少数群体、性别少数群体或两者的群体；（5）与普通人群进行比较；（6）在美国；（7）于2011年1月1日或之后发表。我们的范围审查发现，很少有研究考察并记录美国SGM与非SGM人群之间的环境暴露差异。这些研究主要集中在香烟烟雾暴露方面。没有一项研究考察性别少数群体与顺性别群体之间的环境暴露差异。为了在短期内填补SGM人群环境健康研究中的这一关键空白，研究人员可以将现有的环境数据（例如来自环境保护局的数据）与SGM人群数据合并。长期解决方案需要在联邦、州和地方数据集中系统地纳入经过验证的性取向和性别认同测量指标，以及增加对探索各种环境暴露的原创研究的资金投入。综合起来，这些努力可以显著提高我们识别和解决SGM人群所经历的环境健康不平等问题的能力。
