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Over the last decade there has been a surge in academic and scientific inquiry into disparities in environmental hazards among diverse communities. Much of the evidence points to a general pattern of disproportionate exposures to toxics among communities of color and the poor, with racial differences often persisting across economic strata. Although results have implications for the politics of environmental decisionmaking, most of these analyses are limited to illustrating how inequities in exposures and health risks are spread across the landscape, while shedding little light on their origins or the reasons for their persistence. Previous attempts to theorize the causes of environmental inequality have focused on procedural justice in the regulatory arena, emphasizing civil rights jurisprudence and social theories on individual and institutional discrimination. Although these approaches offer insights into the epistemology of environmental inequality, they fail adequately to account for the political economy of discrimination relating to industrial location behavior and racialized labor markets. By integrating relevant social and legal theories with a spatialized economic critique, this paper formulates a more supple theory of environmental discrimination. How the political economy of place shapes distributions of people and pollution and ultimately gives rise to environmental inequality are revealed by exploring the following factors: historical patterns of industrial development and racialized labor markets; suburbanization and segregation; and economic restructuring. This multidisciplinary approach to theorizing the dynamic of environmental discrimination provides a new framework for future policymaking and community organizing to address environmental and economic justice. Implications of this broader framework for policy and politics are discussed in the conclusion.

Past research on "environmental justice" has often failed to systematically link hazard proximity with quantifiable health risks. The authors employ recent advances in air emissions inventories and modeling techniques to consider a broad range of outdoor air toxics in Southern California and to calculate the potential lifetime cancer risks associated with these pollutants. They find that such risks are attributable mostly to transportation and small-area sources and not the usually targeted large-facility pollution emissions. Multivariate regression suggests that race plays an explanatory role in risk distribution even after controlling for other economic, land-use, and population factors. This pattern suggests the need for innovative emissions reduction efforts as well as specific strategies to alter the spatial and racial character of the environmental "riskscape" in urban centers.

The exposure of children to environmental disamenities has emerged as a key policy concern in recent years, with some analysts and activists suggesting that minority children are disproportionately impacted. Utilizing a dataset that combines air toxics at the census tract level with school-based demographic and other information, this article indicates disparate exposures for students of color in California schools and suggests that there may be negative impacts on one measure of academic performance, even after controlling for other factors usually associated with test scores. Policy implications include a special focus on school remediation and strengthening overall efforts to reduce emissions "hot spots.". Tables, Figures, 6, References. Adapted from the source document.

Objectives. We examine the spatial distribution of toxic air releases and residential demographics in California using 2000 Census data and coeval information from the Federal Toxic Release Inventory for evidence of disproportionate exposure. Methods. We use spatial analysis using GIS, and multivariate regression analysis, including ordered and multinomial logit regressions, in our study. Results. Analytical results suggest a pattern of disproportionate exposure based on race, with the disparity most severe for Latinos, which holds in a series of multivariate regressions, including attempts to test for varying levels of pollution risk and to control for spatial dependence. Conclusions. The study corroborates earlier research focused in the Los Angeles area, and suggests that recent concerns about environmental inequities affecting Latinos in California may be well founded. (Original abstract)

Two policy frameworks, environmental justice and the precautionary principle, have begun to transform traditional approaches to environmental policy making and community organizing related to public health. Despite having several important overlapping policy goals, little effort has been made to purposefully integrate these two frameworks. This article discusses preliminary research on environmental inequality in ambient air toxics exposures and associated health risks among schoolchildren in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Results indicate that children of color, namely, Latinos and African Americans, bear the highest burden of estimated cancer and noncancer health risks associated with ambient air toxics exposures while they are in school. The implications of these study results for controversial policy decisions related to school siting and construction in urban districts are discussed within the context of environmental justice and the precautionary principle.

Two policy frameworks, environmental justice & the precautionary principle, have begun to transform traditional approaches to environmental policy making & community organizing related to public health. Despite having several important overlapping policy goals, little effort has been made to purposefully integrate these two frameworks. This article discusses preliminary research on environmental inequality in ambient air toxics exposures & associated health risks among schoolchildren in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Results indicate that children of color, namely, Latinos & African Americans, bear the highest burden of estimated cancer & noncancer health risks associated with ambient air toxics exposures while they are in school. The implications of these study results for controversial policy decisions related to school siting & construction in urban districts are discussed within the context of environmental justice & the precautionary principle. 2 Tables, 3 Figures, 99 References. [Copyright 2002 Sage Publications, Inc.]

Objectives. We examine the spatial distribution of toxic air releases and residential demographics in California using 2000 Census data and coeval information from the Federal Toxic Release Inventory for evidence of disproportionate exposure.Methods. We use spatial analysis using GIS, and multivariate regression analysis, including ordered and multinomial logit regressions, in our study.Results. Analytical results suggest a pattern of disproportionate exposure based on race, with the disparity most severe for Latinos, which holds in a series of multivariate regressions, including attempts to test for varying levels of pollution risk and to control for spatial dependence.Conclusions. The study corroborates earlier research focused in the Los Angeles area, and suggests that recent concerns about environmental inequities affecting Latinos in California may be well founded.

A significant body of previous research on environmental justice has demonstrated a disproportionate burden of environmental hazards on low-income and minority residents. In this paper we evaluate spatially indexed data on estimated respiratory and cancer risks associated with exposures to ambient air toxics to show that children of color in the Los Angeles Unified School District suffer potentially disparate health impacts, and that disparities in environmental risks may be associated with diminished school performance—even after controlling for socioeconomic and demographic covariates that generally explain much of the variation in student scores. Remediating environmental health risks in distressed neighborhoods could, therefore, improve both health and human capital.

Objectives. We examine the spatial distribution of toxic air releases & residential demographics in CA using 2000 Census data & coeval information from the Federal Toxic Release Inventory for evidence of disproportionate exposure. Methods. We use spatial analysis using GIS, & multivariate regression analysis, including ordered & multinomial logit regressions. Results. Analytical results suggest a pattern of disproportionate exposure based on race, with the disparity most severe for Latinos, which holds in a series of multivariate regressions, including attempts to test for varying levels of pollution risk & to control for spatial dependence. Conclusions. The study corroborates earlier research focused in the Los Angeles area, & suggests that recent concerns about environmental inequities affecting Latinos in CA may be well-founded. 4 Tables, 2 Figures, 40 References. Adapted from the source document.