u have been exploring risk assessment and risk management, and what governments can do to prevent potential environmental health issues. Questions arise, however, on the equity of environmental justice. Is it fairly being provided in all situations without any group or community facing an undue amount of risk?
Select a real environmental justice issue that is relevant to your geographic area, if possible, or that is of interest to you. Find a case in which a particular ethnic or SES group has or is bearing an undue share of risk from the location of a noxious site, including an industrial facility, mining waste site, nuclear plant, municipal landfill, Superfund site, incinerator, feedlot, abandoned toxic waste site, or polluted waterway.
Describe the environmental justice situation, including when it occurred or if it is current.
Discuss who is/was facing unequal risk or exposure, including the cultural or SES correlations.
Describe what they are/were exposed to, providing supporting information on the level of risk and using scholarly sources such as ATSDR and journal articles as necessary. (San Antonio Texas)
Explain the risk-management goal, and provide suggestions/examples for communicating the risk and engaging the stakeholders.
Support your discussion by citing at least one primary research article.
Resources: Course Text: Environmental Health
Chapter 15, “Risk Assessment and Management”
Preparing in advance for environmental health issues can do much to create a more coordinated, effective response. Part of an environmental health professional’s duty is to understand the likelihood of an environmental health issue and the level of risk posed by its occurrence. This chapter discusses the three main issues that must be addressed in any risk assessment. It explores the different approaches to risk assessment, how potential risks are best communicated, and, finally, the most effective means of risk management.
Article: Couch, J., Williams, P., Halvorson, J., & Malone, K. (2003). Of racism and rubbish. Independent Review, 8(2), 235-247.
Use the Walden Library Academic Search Premier database, and search using the article’s Accession Number: 10946549
This article examines the state of Mississippi and the prevalence of environmental injustice when using race and economic status as variables.
Web Site:
Center for Environmental Assessment. Office of Research and Development. (n.d.). Exposure factors handbook. Retrieved September 15, 2008, from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Web site:
http://www.epa.gov/ncea/pdfs/efh/front.pdf
This publication has a thorough listing of variables that may be used in risk assessment. It includes factors for estimating the level and the means of contamination in order to determine the seriousness of the risk in a particular location or to a particular population.
Optional Resources
Clark, L., Barton, J., & Brown, N. (2002) Assessment of community contamination: A critical approach. Public Health Nursing, 19(5), 354–365.
Use the Walden Library Academic Search Premier database, and search using the article’s Accession Number: 7188402
Claudio, L. (2007). Standing on principle: The global push for environmental justice. Environmental Health Perspectives, 115(10), A500–A503.
Use the Walden Library Academic Search Premier database, and search using the article’s Accession Number: 27024410
Drew, C., Grace, D., Silbernagel, S., Hemmings, E., Smith, A., Griffith, W. et al. (2003). Nuclear waste transportation: Case studies of identifying stakeholder risk information needs. Environmental Health Perspectives, 111(3), 263–272.
Use the Walden Library Academic Search Premier database, and search using the article’s Accession Number: 9535699
Evans, G., & Marcynyszyn, L. (2004). Environmental justice, cumulative environmental risk, and health among low- and middle-income children in upstate New York. American Journal of Public Health, 94(11), 1942–1944.
Use the Walden Library Academic Search Premier database, and search using the article’s Accession Number: 14898928
Norton, J., Wing, S., Lipscomb, H., Kaufman, J., Marshall, S., & Cravey, A. (2007). Race, wealth, and solid waste facilities in North Carolina. Environmental Health Perspectives, 115(9), 1344–1350.
Use the Walden Library Academic Search Premier database, and search using the article’s Accession Number: 26996798
Patel, S., Ramaiah Nellore, M., Sadhu, H., Kulkarni, P., Patel, B., & Parikh, D. (2008). Effects of industrial pollution on respiratory morbidity among female residents of India. Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health, 63(2), 87-92.
Use the Walden Library Academic Search Premier database, and search using the article’s Accession Number: 33185321
Solitare, L. & Greenberg, M. (2002). Is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Brownfields assessment pilot program environmentally just? Environmental Health Perspectives, [Supp 2] 110, 249–257.
Use the Walden Library Academic Search Premier database, and search using the article’s Accession Number: 8602641
Whyatt, R., Rauh, V., Barr, D., Camann, D., Andrews H., Garfinkel, R., et. al. (2004). Prenatal insecticide exposures and birth weight and length among an urban minority cohort. Environmental Health Perspectives, 112(10), 1125–1132.
Use the Walden Library Academic Search Premier database, and search using the article’s Accession Number: 13856573
Wing, S. (2002). Social responsibility and research ethics in community-driven studies of industrialized hog production. Environmental Health Perspective, 110(5), 437–444.
Use the Walden Library Academic Search Premier database, and search using the article’s Accession Number: 6750395
Woloshin, S., Schwartz, L., & Ellner, A. (2003). Making sense of risk information on the web. British Medical Journal, 32(7417), 695-697.
Use the Walden Library Academic Search Premier database, and search using the article’s Accession Number: 10938265
Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR)
http://depts.washington.edu/ccph/commbas.html
Risk World
Defining Problems and Putting Them in Context
http://www.riskworld.com/Nreports/1997/risk-rpt/html/epajan2.htm
Framework for Environmental Health Risk Management
http://www.riskworld.com/Nreports/1997/risk-rpt/html/epajana.htm
Risk Assessment Information System
http://rais.ornl.gov/
What Is Risk Assessment?
http://rais.ornl.gov/tutorials/whatisra.html
Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)
http://www.epa.gov/ncea/iris/index.html
Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment (TERA)
http://www.tera.org/
EPA Superfund Risk Assessment
http://www.epa.gov/oswer/riskassessment/risk_superfund.htm
Risk Assessment for Food Terrorism and Other Food Safety Concerns
http://www.doh.state.fl.us/ENVIRONMENT/community/foodsurveillance/resource_docs/Food_Terrorism.pdf
ATSDR Primer on Health Risk Communication Principles and Practices
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/risk/riskprimer/index.html
EPA Environmental Justice
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/environmentaljustice/index.html
Environmental Justice Resource Center
http://www.ejrc.cau.edu/
Electromagnetic Fields (EMF)
http://www.who.int/peh-emf/publications/en/
International EMF Project
http://www.who.int/docstore/peh-emf/publications/facts_press/fact_english.htm
WHO EMF Risk Communication
http://www.who.int/peh-emf/publications/risk_hand/en/
Electric and Magnetic Fields Research and Public Information Dissemination Program
http://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/emf/
Optional Activities
Risk Assessment Tutorials
http://rais.ornl.gov/tutorials/tutorial.html
The Risk Assessment Information System offers a variety of tutorials and information about risk assessment. Select one tutorial and work through the tutorial on your own.
Toxicology Tutor-Risk Assessment
http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/enviro/toxtutor/Tox1/a61.htm
The National Library of Medicine hosts this site, which provides a nice overview of the vocabulary of toxicology and risk assessment. Work through this site to test yourself and your understanding of risk-assessment concepts.
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