Downscaling Environmental Justice Analysis: Determinants of Household-Level Hazardous Air Pollutant Exposure in Greater Houston

Timothy W. Collins, Sara E. Grineski, Jayajit Chakraborty, Marilyn C. Montgomery, Maricarmen Hernández
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引用次数: 76

Abstract

Environmental justice (EJ) research has relied on ecological analyses of coarse-scale areal units to determine whether particular populations are disproportionately burdened by toxic risks. This article advances quantitative EJ research by (1) examining whether statistical associations found for geographic units translate to relationships at the household level; (2) testing competing explanations for distributional injustices never before investigated; (3) examining adverse health implications of hazardous air pollutant (HAP) exposures; and (4) applying an underutilized statistical technique appropriate for geographically clustered data. Our study makes these advances by using generalized estimating equations to examine distributive environmental inequities in the Greater Houston (Texas) metropolitan area, based on primary household-level survey data and census block–level cancer risk estimates of HAP exposure from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In addition to main statistical effects, interaction effects are modeled to examine whether minority racial or ethnic status modifies the effects of other variables on HAP cancer risk. In terms of main effects, Hispanic and black status as well as the desire to live close to public transit exhibit robust associations with HAP cancer risk. Interaction results reveal that homeownership and homophily (i.e., the desire to live among people culturally similar to oneself) are associated with higher HAP cancer risk among Hispanics and blacks but with lower risk among whites. Disproportionate risks experienced by Hispanics and blacks are attributable neither to dampened risk perceptions nor the desire to live close to work. These findings have implications for EJ research and practice in Greater Houston and elsewhere.
缩小环境正义分析:大休斯顿地区家庭有害空气污染物暴露的决定因素
环境正义(EJ)研究依赖于对粗尺度面积单位的生态分析来确定特定人群是否不成比例地承受有毒风险。本文通过(1)检验地理单位的统计关联是否转化为家庭层面的关系来推进定量EJ研究;(2)检验之前从未调查过的分配不公的相互矛盾的解释;(3)研究有害空气污染物(HAP)暴露对健康的不利影响;(4)应用一种适合地理聚类数据的未充分利用的统计技术。我们的研究基于美国环境保护署的主要家庭调查数据和人口普查区块水平的HAP暴露癌症风险估计,通过使用广义估计方程来检查大休斯顿(德克萨斯州)大都市区的分布环境不平等,从而取得了这些进展。除了主要的统计效应外,相互作用效应被建模来检验少数种族或民族地位是否会改变其他变量对HAP癌症风险的影响。就主要影响而言,西班牙裔和黑人身份以及居住在公共交通附近的愿望与HAP癌症风险密切相关。相互作用结果显示,房屋所有权和同质性(即希望与文化上与自己相似的人生活在一起)与西班牙裔和黑人患HAP癌症的风险较高相关,而白人患HAP癌症的风险较低。西班牙裔和黑人所经历的不成比例的风险既不能归因于风险意识减弱,也不能归因于住得离工作地点近的愿望。这些发现对大休斯顿地区和其他地区的EJ研究和实践具有启示意义。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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