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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2022) | Viewed by 34801

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Dr. Walter Mazzucco

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Guest Editor

Department of Health Promotion, Maternal and Infant Care, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties (PROMISE), University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy
Interests: public health; health policy; epidemiology of cancer; global health; maternal and childhood health; public health genomics; healthcare management; clinical risk management; food safety and risk management

Dr. Paolo Contiero

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Guest Editor

Environmental Epidemiology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, 20133 Milan, Italy
Interests: environmental epidemiology；cancer registries；cancer survival

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Research in environmental justice has been increasing in the last few years. With regard to the health sector, environmental justice has been used synonymously with environmental inequalities, assuming that the distribution of pollution, and the resultant impact on human health and well-being, are generally spread nonuniformly among the population. More recently, the following different declinations have been proposed: exposure and access inequalities, in the view of an unequal distribution of environmental quality between individuals and groups; policy effect inequalities, namely, the unequal effect of environmental policies; impact inequalities, that is, the unequal environmental impact of individuals and social groups with regard to their incomes and/or lifestyles; and policy-making inequalities, considered as the unequal access to environmental policy-making.

We call for papers dealing with topics related to health and environment in the view of the previous different declinations of environmental health justice.

Dr. Walter Mazzucco
Dr. Paolo Contiero
Guest Editors

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Keywords

Environmental justice
Environmental inequalities
Environmental health
Environmental policies and health
Air, soil and water pollution
Anthropic hazards and disasters
Waste management and treatment
Climate changes
Urban health
Modelling and spatial analysis

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Published Papers (11 papers)

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14 pages, 2765 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Geospatial Distributions of Lead Levels Found in Human Hair and Preterm Birth in San Francisco Neighborhoods

by Chinomnso N. Okorie, Marilyn D. Thomas, Rebecca M. Méndez, Erendira C. Di Giuseppe, Nina S. Roberts and Leticia Márquez-Magaña

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(1), 86; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19010086 - 22 Dec 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3273

Abstract

In San Francisco (SF), many environmental factors drive the unequal burden of preterm birth outcomes for communities of color. Here, we examine the association between human exposure to lead (Pb) and preterm birth (PTB) in 19 racially diverse SF zip codes. Pb concentrations were measured in 109 hair samples donated by 72 salons and barbershops in 2018–2019. Multi-method data collection included randomly selecting hair salons stratified by zip code, administering demographic surveys, and measuring Pb in hair samples as a biomarker of environmental exposure to heavy metals. Concentrations of Pb were measured by atomic emission spectrometry. Aggregate neighborhood Pb levels were linked to PTB and demographic data using STATA 16 SE (StataCorp LLC, College Station, TX, USA). Pb varied by zip code (p < 0.001) and correlated with PTB (p < 0.01). Increases in unadjusted Pb concentration predicted an increase in PTB (β = 0.003; p < 0.001) and after adjusting for poverty (β = 0.002; p < 0.001). Confidence intervals contained the null after further adjustment for African American/Black population density (p = 0.16), suggesting that race is more indicative of high rates of PTB than poverty. In conclusion, Pb was found in every hair sample collected from SF neighborhoods. The highest concentrations were found in predominately African American/Black and high poverty neighborhoods, necessitating public health guidelines to eliminate this environmental injustice. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue From Environmental Health Inequalities to Environmental Health Justice)

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11 pages, 779 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Approximating Community Water System Service Areas to Explore the Demographics of SDWA Compliance in Virginia

by Cristina Marcillo, Leigh-Anne Krometis and Justin Krometis

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(24), 13254; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182413254 - 16 Dec 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2389

Abstract

Although the United States Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) theoretically ensures drinking water quality, recent studies have questioned the reliability and equity associated with community water system (CWS) service. This study aimed to identify SDWA violation differences (i.e., monitoring and reporting (MR) and health-based (HB)) between Virginia CWSs given associated service demographics, rurality, and system characteristics. A novel geospatial methodology delineated CWS service areas at the zip code scale to connect 2000 US Census demographics with 2006–2016 SDWA violations, with significant associations determined via negative binomial regression. The proportion of Black Americans within a service area was positively associated with the likelihood of HB violations. This effort supports the need for further investigation of racial and socioeconomic disparities in access to safe drinking water within the United States in particular and offers a geospatial strategy to explore demographics in other settings where data on infrastructure extents are limited. Further interdisciplinary efforts at multiple scales are necessary to identify the entwined causes for differential risks in adverse drinking water quality exposures and would be substantially strengthened by the mapping of official CWS service boundaries. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue From Environmental Health Inequalities to Environmental Health Justice)

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15 pages, 6500 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Environmental Injustice and Industrial Chicken Farming in Maryland

by Jonathan Hall, Joseph Galarraga, Isabelle Berman, Camryn Edwards, Niya Khanjar, Lucy Kavi, Rianna Murray, Kristen Burwell-Naney, Chengsheng Jiang and Sacoby Wilson

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(21), 11039; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182111039 - 20 Oct 2021

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 5152

Abstract

Maryland’s growing chicken industry, including concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and meat processing plants, raises a number of concerns regarding public health and environmental justice. Using hot spot analysis, we analyzed the totality of Maryland’s CAFOs and meat processing plants and those restricted to the Eastern Shore to assess whether communities of color and/or low socioeconomic status communities disproportionately hosted these types of facilities at the census tract level. We used zero-inflated regression modeling to determine the strength of the associations between environmental justice variables and the location of CAFOs and meatpacking facilities at the State level and on the Eastern Shore. Hot spot analyses demonstrated that CAFO hot spots on the Eastern Shore were located in counties with some of the lowest wealth in the State, including the lowest ranking county—Somerset. Zero-inflated regression models demonstrated that increases in median household income across the state were associated with a 0.04-unit reduction in CAFOs. For every unit increase in the percentage of people of color (POC), there was a 0.02-unit increase in meat processing facilities across the state. The distribution of CAFOs and meat processing plants across Maryland may contribute to poor health outcomes in areas affected by such production, and contribute to health disparities and health inequity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue From Environmental Health Inequalities to Environmental Health Justice)

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22 pages, 4430 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Community-Level Analysis of Drinking Water Data Highlights the Importance of Drinking Water Metrics for the State, Federal Environmental Health Justice Priorities in the United States

by Uloma Igara Uche, Sydney Evans, Soren Rundquist, Chris Campbell and Olga V. Naidenko

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(19), 10401; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph181910401 - 2 Oct 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 5175

Abstract

Research studies analyzing the geospatial distribution of air pollution and other types of environmental contamination documented the persistence of environmental health disparities between communities. Due to the shortage of publicly available data, only limited research has been published on the geospatial distribution of drinking water pollution. Here we present a framework for the joint consideration of community-level drinking water data and demographic data. Our analysis builds on a comprehensive data set of drinking water contaminant occurrence for the United States for 2014–2019 and the American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2015–2019) from the U.S. Census Bureau. Focusing on the U.S. states of California and Texas for which geospatial data on community water system service boundaries are publicly available, we examine cumulative cancer risk for water served by community water systems of different sizes relative to demographic characteristics for the populations served by these water systems. In both California and Texas, greater cumulative cancer risk was observed for water systems serving communities with a higher percentage of Hispanic/Latino and Black/African American community members. This investigation demonstrates that it is both practical and essential to incorporate and expand the drinking water data metrics in the analysis of environmental pollution and environmental health. The framework presented here can support the development of public policies to advance environmental health justice priorities on state and federal levels in the U.S. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue From Environmental Health Inequalities to Environmental Health Justice)

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17 pages, 2003 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Is Technological Progress Selective for Multiple Pollutant Emissions?

by Weijiang Liu and Mingze Du

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(17), 9286; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18179286 - 2 Sep 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2002

Abstract

Current research on technological progress does not focus on whether there is a biased selection of technological progress based on the resulting pollutant emissions and the emission reduction effect. This paper measures green total factor productivity for 30 provinces in China from 2004–2018 and tests whether technological progress is selectively biased towards the pollutants emitted. The results find a selective bias of technological progress on pollutant emissions, and there is also heterogeneity in the selective bias across regions. The current level of technological progress is on the right side of the inverted U-shaped inflection point for SO₂ and PM_2.5 and the left side of the inverted U-shaped inflection point for CO₂. The improvement of technological progress can reduce the emissions of SO₂ and PM_2.5. Still, the results indicate that the reduction effect of these two pollutants originates from the treatment process rather than reducing the source of the production side. The inability of technological advancement to reduce CO₂ emissions suggests some carbon lock-in in China’s technological advancement. The Chinese government should increase the proportion of new energy applications and reduce the production methods of polluting industries to reduce pollutants effectively. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue From Environmental Health Inequalities to Environmental Health Justice)

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10 pages, 542 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Variation of Cancer Incidence between and within GRELL Countries

by Paolo Contiero, Giovanna Tagliabue, Gemma Gatta, Jaume Galceran, Jean-Luc Bulliard, Martina Bertoldi, Alessandra Scaburri, Emanuele Crocetti and on behalf of the GRELL Geographic Analysis Working Group

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(17), 9262; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18179262 - 2 Sep 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2343

Abstract

Variation in cancer incidence between countries and groups of countries has been well studied. However cancer incidence is linked to risk factors that may vary within countries, and may subsist in localized geographic areas. In this study we investigated between- and within-country variation in the incidence of all cancers combined for countries belonging to the Group for Cancer Epidemiology and Registration in Latin Language Countries (GRELL). We hypothesized that investigation at the micro-level (circumscribed regions and local cancer registry areas) would reveal incidence variations not evident at the macro level and allow identification of cancer incidence hotspots for research, public health, and to fight social inequalities. Data for all cancers diagnosed in 2008–2012 were extracted from Cancer Incidence in Five Continents, Vol XI. Incidence variation within a country or region was quantified as r/R, defined as the difference between the highest and lowest incidence rates for cancer registries within a country/region (r), divided by the incidence rate for the entire country/region × 100. We found that the area with the highest male incidence had an ASRw 4.3 times higher than the area with the lowest incidence. The area with the highest female incidence had an ASRw 3.3 times higher than the area with the lowest incidence. Areas with the highest male ASRws were Azores (Portugal), Florianopolis (Brazil), Metropolitan France, north Spain, Belgium, and north-west and north-east Italy. Areas with the highest female ASRws were Florianopolis (Brazil), Belgium, north-west Italy, north-east Italy, central Italy, Switzerland and Metropolitan France. Our analysis has shown that cancer incidence varies markedly across GRELL countries but also within several countries: the presence of several areas with high cancer incidence suggests the presence of area-specific risk factors that deserve further investigation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue From Environmental Health Inequalities to Environmental Health Justice)

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11 pages, 2520 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Municipality Data as a Rapid and Effective Tool to Analyse Spatial and Temporal Variations of All-Cause Mortality by Town District: The Experience in Genoa (Italy)

by Paolo Contiero, Giovanna Tagliabue, Andrea Tittarelli, Martina Bertoldi, Claudio Tresoldi, Giulio Barigelletti, Viviana Perotti, Vittoria Balbo, Stefania Rizzieri, Marco D’Orazi and Valerio Gennaro

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(16), 8250; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18168250 - 4 Aug 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2265

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to analyse the space–time epidemiological differences by sex during the 2009–2020 period in the total mortality recorded among residents in each of the 25 districts of the Genoa municipality, net of the age effect. The analysis was based on official statistical data relating to total mortality and on the resident population. An estimate of the expected deaths was made to calculate the sex-specific age-standardised mortality ratio (SMR). The temporal trends and age-standardized death rates (SDRs) with respect to those of the European population specific to sex and calendar year were identified for each district. Over the entire observation period, the SMR for males ranged from 124.4 (Cornigliano) to 82.0 (Albaro); for females, the values ranged between 133.4 (Cornigliano) and 85.6 (Nervi-Quinto-S. Ilario). Between 2019 and 2020, Genoa recorded an increase in SDR of 24.5%, more pronounced in males (+26.7%) than in females (+22.4%). This epidemiological methodology is replicable and allows to quickly identify spatial, temporal, sex, and age differences in the general mortality within a municipality. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue From Environmental Health Inequalities to Environmental Health Justice)

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27 pages, 18048 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Pollution Haven Hypothesis of Global CO₂, SO₂, NO_x—Evidence from 43 Economies and 56 Sectors

by Ke Zhang and Xingwei Wang

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(12), 6552; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18126552 - 18 Jun 2021

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 3392

Abstract

With the development of trade liberalization, the pollutants emissions embodied in global trade are increasing. The pollution haven hypothesis caused by trade has aroused wide attention. The fragmentation of international production has reshaped trade patterns. The proportion of intermediate product trade in global trade is increasing. However, little has been done to study the pollution haven of different pollutants under different trade patterns. In this paper, major environmental pollutants CO₂ (carbon dioxide), SO₂ (sulfur dioxide), and NO_x (nitrogen oxides) are selected as the research objects. This study investigated the global pollution haven phenomenon in 43 countries and 56 major industries from 2000 to 2014. Based on the MRIO model, the trade mode is divided into three specific patterns: final product trade, intermediate product trade in the last stage of production, and the trade related to the global value chain. The results show that trade liberalization could reduce global CO₂, SO₂, and NOx emissions, and intermediate product trade has a more significant emission reduction effect than final product trade. Trade’s impacts on each country are various, and the main drivers are also different. For example, the European Union avoids becoming a pollution haven mainly through the trade related to the global value chain. The suppressed emissions under this trade pattern are 71.8 Mt CO₂, 2.2 Mt SO₂, 2.2 Mt NO_x. India avoids most pollutants emissions through intermediate product trade. China has become the most serious pollution haven through final product trade. The trade pattern could increase China 829.4 Mt CO₂, 4.5 Mt SO₂, 2.6 Mt NO_x emissions in 2014. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue From Environmental Health Inequalities to Environmental Health Justice)

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17 pages, 405 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Data-Quality Assessment Signals Toxic-Site Safety Threats and Environmental Injustices

by Kristin Shrader-Frechette and Andrew M. Biondo

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(4), 2012; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18042012 - 19 Feb 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2465 | Correction

Abstract

Most hazardous-waste sites are located in urban areas populated by disproportionate numbers of children, minorities, and poor people who, as a result, face more severe pollution threats and environmental-health inequalities. Partly to address this harm, in 2017 the United Nations unanimously endorsed the New Urban Agenda, which includes redeveloping urban-infill-toxic-waste sites. However, no systematic, independent analyses assess the public-health adequacy of such hazardous-facility redevelopments. Our objective is to provide a preliminary data-quality assessment (PDQA) of urban-infill-toxic-site testing, conducted by private redevelopers, including whether it adequately addresses pollution threats. To this end, we used two qualitative, weight-of-evidence methods. Method 1 employs nine criteria to select assessments for PDQA and help control for confounders. To conduct PDQA, Method 2 uses three US Environmental Protection Agency standards—the temporal, geographical, and technological representativeness of sampling. Our Method 1 results reveal four current toxic-site assessments (by CBRE/Trammell Crow, the world’s largest commercial developer); at all of these sites the main risk drivers are solvents, volatile organic compounds, including trichloroethylene. Our Method 2 results indicate that all four assessments violate most PDQA standards and systematically underestimate health risk. These results reveal environmental injustice, disproportionate health threats to children/minorities/poor people at all four sites. Although preliminary, our conclusion is that alleviating harm and environmental-health inequalities posed by urban-infill-toxic-site pollution may require improving both the testing/cleanup/redevelopment requirements of the New Urban Agenda and the regulatory oversight of assessment and remediation performed by private redevelopers. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue From Environmental Health Inequalities to Environmental Health Justice)

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1 pages, 226 KiB

Open AccessCorrection

Correction: Shrader-Frechette, K.; Biondo, A.M. Data-Quality Assessment Signals Toxic-Site Safety Threats and Environmental Injustices. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 2012

by Kristin Shrader-Frechette and Andrew M. Biondo

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(19), 10293; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph181910293 - 29 Sep 2021

Viewed by 1226

Abstract

The authors would like to make the following corrections (1 and 2) to this paper [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue From Environmental Health Inequalities to Environmental Health Justice)

15 pages, 1071 KiB

Open AccessCase Report

The Management of Health Hazards Related to Municipal Solid Waste on Fire in Europe: An Environmental Justice Issue?

by Walter Mazzucco, Claudio Costantino, Vincenzo Restivo, Davide Alba, Claudia Marotta, Elisa Tavormina, Achille Cernigliaro, Maurizio Macaluso, Rosanna Cusimano, Rosario Grammauta, Fabio Tramuto, Salvatore Scondotto and Francesco Vitale

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(18), 6617; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17186617 - 11 Sep 2020

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3537

Abstract

Landfilling should be the last option in an integrated Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management approach. In the European Union (EU), the policy framework to protect the environment and the public health against the impact of health hazards related to urban solid waste management has been consistently implemented in recent decades. A growing interest in the negative impact of fires in waste landfills on the environment and people’s health was reported in some European countries. In Italy, an increasing occurrence of arsons in MSW and landfills has been reported in recent years. During the summer of 2012, a multi-site arson occurred in the Palermo Municipal solid waste landfill of Bellolampo (western Sicily), giving rise to an environmental emergency of public health concern. Local health authorities reacted by creating an inter-institutional multidisciplinary task force with the aim to implement measures to prevent and control the risk of exposure by delimiting a protection area to be taken under strict monitoring. Environmental and epidemiological investigations were put in place by air, soil, and farm product sampling. A syndromic surveillance of the exposed population was conducted as well. The air monitoring stations system in place detected an increase in the concentrations of dioxins and dioxin-like substances with the PM10 highest emission pick documented within the first 24 h and estimated at about 60 μg/m³. Levels of heavy metals above the limits permitted by law were detected in the top- and sub-soil samples collected within the two landfill sampling sites and also in other nearby sites. Non-conforming concentration values of dioxins and dioxin-like substances were detected in samples taken from farms, milk, and water. The health syndromic surveillance did not document any daily increase in the notification of emergency admissions related to acute respiratory diseases or any other health effect potentially related to the waste arson, but these findings were limited by the non-systematic collection of data. The experience reported in the present case report, as declined within the European Union policy framework and in the view of environmental justice, documented the need to structure a permanent collaboration between the different institutional actors involved in environmental and public health protection activities in order to develop specific protocols to manage events related to the occurrence of waste-related environmental emergencies or disasters. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue From Environmental Health Inequalities to Environmental Health Justice)

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