CHE-WA Research and Information

	The Collaborative on Health and the Environment – Washington
	A Partnership Network for Environmental Health Established and Coordinated by the Institute for Children's Environmental Health

Environmental Justice

Health is the main focus of the environmental justice movement in the United States. “Environment” is generally defined as being where we live, work, play, worship, and go to school, as well as the physical and natural world. The World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not just the absence of disease or infirmity.” These definitions of environment and health capture the essence of the struggles for environmental justice being fought by communities made up of people of color and low-income groups.

~Dr. Robert Bullard, Director Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University

Low income and minority communities often bear a disproportionate burden of the health risks associated with poor environmental quality and there are significant health disparities between low income and minority communities and the white, Caucasian population of the US. It is likely that a proportion of these health disparities are due to poor environmental quality, although other factors, such as access to health care, are also likely to be important.

A health disparity is a difference in health outcome or determinant of health across two populations, such that one population suffers a disproportionate burden of illness. The US Department of Health and Human Services has established two overarching goals through its Healthy People 2010 initiative that strive to improve health and reduce disparities for all people in the nation:

Goal 1: Increase Quality and Years of Healthy Life – Help individuals of all ages increase life expectancy and improve their quality of life.

Goal 2: Eliminate Health Disparities – Eliminate health disparities among different segments of the population.

Environmental justice and environmental injustice have been defined as:

"Environmental Justice:

A condition of environmental justice exists when environmental risks and hazards and investments and benefits are equally distributed without direct or indirect discrimination at all jurisdictional levels and when access to environmental investments, benefits, and natural resources are equally distributed; and when access to information, participation in decision making, and access to justice in environment-related matters are enjoyed by all."

"Environmental Injustice:

An environmental injustice exists when members of disadvantaged, ethnic, minority or other groups suffer disproportionately at the local, regional (sub-national), or national levels from environmental risks or hazards, and/or suffer disproportionately from violations of fundamental human rights as a result of environmental factors, and/or denied access to environmental investments, benefits, and/or natural resources, and/or are denied access to information; and/or participation in decision making; and/or access to justice in environment-related matters."

This webpage presents some of the information on health disparities in Washington State that is relevant to poor environmental quality and environmental injustice. Specifically, it summarizes health disparity information for the environmentally-linked chronic diseases and disabilities profiled in the health effects pages of this clearinghouse. For more information on the relationship between each health effect and environmental contaminants, please review the webpages on individual health effects.

Health Disparities Related to Environmental Quality in Washington State

Adult Cancer

Information from the Washington State Cancer Registry’s 2002 Report shows that Blacks have the highest mortality for three of the five cancers most strongly linked with environmental quality, although they only have the highest incidence rate for one (lung cancer).

Cancer Type	Highest incidence rate	Highest mortality rate
Bladder	White	Black
Breast (female)	White	Black
Lung	Black	Black
Melanoma	White	White
Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma	White	American Indian/Alaska Native

Asthma

Washington State Department of Health’s report on “The Burden of Asthma in Washington State” shows that the prevalence of asthma is highest in Native Americans, that asthma mortality is highest among Blacks, Native Americans, and Asian/Pacific Islanders, and that those with an income of less than $10,000 a year have the highest rates of asthma:

Asthma-related Disparity	Highest rates
Prevalence (compared to Whites)	Native Americans
Mortality (compared to Whites)	Blacks Native Americans Asian/Pacific Islanders
Prevalence (compared to $20-$49,000 and $50,000 +)	Income less than $20,000

Cardiovascular Disease

Washington State Department of Health’s report on “The Burden of Heart Disease and Stroke in Washington State” shows that African Americans have the highest mortality rate of cardiovascular disease as a whole, coronary heart disease, and stroke:

Cardiovascular-related Disease	Highest mortality rates (compared to Whites)
Coronary heart disease	African Americans
Stroke	African Americans
Cardiovascular disease as a whole	African Americans Native Americans/Alaska Natives

Developmental & Neurobehavioral Disabilities

In October 2000, the University of Washington’s Human Services Policy Center convened a forum on “Emotional and Behavioral Problems of Our Children: Early Identification, Intervention and Policy Implications.” Some of the information addressed disparities in emotional and behavioral problems between children and adolescents from families with differing income levels:

One in 14 young children (ages 6 to 11) in lower income families in Washington exhibits serious emotional or behavioral problems, compared to 1 in 22 young children in families with adequate income.
One in 10 adolescents (ages 12 to 17) in lower income families in Washington exhibits serious emotional or behavioral problems, compared to 1 in 20 adolescents in families with adequate income.

Reproductive Disorders

The March of Dimes, Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, and the Washington State Department of Health offer the following data along racial and ethnic lines for preterm birth rates, infant mortality rates and low birth weight rates respectively:

Preterm birth rates were highest for Native American infants (14.5%), followed by Blacks (13.3%), Hispanics (10.3%), Asians (9.9%) and whites (9.5%) in 2001-2003.
Infant mortality rates for African American and American Indian infants in 1999-2000 were 1.9 times greater than the rate for white infants.
Low birth weight rates were significantly higher among Black women compared to women of other races in 2001-2003.

Environmental Justice and the Location of Hazardous Facilities

The Department of Ecology’s study on "Environmental Equity in Washington State" found that “there is a disproportionately greater number of facilities located in low income and minority block groups, and a smaller number of facilities in the non minority / non low-income block groups. When comparing data between low-income and minority block groups, low-income block groups have a higher disproportion of facilities than do minority block groups.”

Government Agencies and Non-profit Organizations

There are many government agencies and non-profit organizations working on environmental justice issues in Washington State. Some of the major agencies and organizations are listed below:

Children's Alliance

City of Seattle’s Office of Sustainability and Environment

Community Coalition for Environmental Justice

Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition

Environmental Coalition of South Seattle

EPA Office for Civil Rights, Enforcement and Environmental Justice

Farm Worker Pesticide Project

International District Housing Alliance

People for Puget Sound

Public Health – Seattle & King County

Seattle Indian Health Board

Sustainable Seattle