Despite a revived national focus on environmental injustice, one group remains largely ignored: disabled people, who make up more than 25% of the U.S population.
Even the definition of environmental justice provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) doesn't currently include disability.
Yet, a recent study suggests that disability statusespecially in combination with race, ethnicity, and incomecan determine how much environmental harm one could be exposed to.
Pollution in the U.S. has never been evenly distributed. Our long history of discriminatory housing and zoning laws have forced marginalized groups to live in areas that disproportionately expose them to environmental hazardsthe effects of which are still present today.
In response, environmental justice researchers have spent decades trying to document these inequalities. What started out with a focus on Black and Brown Americans, has since expanded to include other marginalized groups, such as low-income households, immigrants, and the LGBTQ+ community.
Few studies also consider disability. But in one of these rare studies, Jayajit Chakraborty, a professor of geography at the University of Texas at El Paso, observed that Houston neighborhoods located near pollution sourceslike Superfund sites and hazardous waste facilitieswere home to a significantly higher proportion of disabled people compared to the rest of the city. In addition, race, ethnicity, and age all further amplified these inequalitiesdisabled people of color and those aged 75 years or older both lived in even closer proximity to polluted areas, likely decreasing their quality of life.
These findings came as no surprise to Chakraborty. In his past work, he reached a similar conclusion when investigating how close disabled people lived next to toxic chemical spills, and again when looking at where disabled communities were placed relative to facilities that use hazardous materials.
"And that got me thinking, what about other kinds of environmental hazards?" he told EHN, adding that he wanted to look at more chronic pollution sources which "have traditionally received a lot of focus in previous [environmental justice] researchbut not so much with regards to disability."
He stresses, however, that these conclusions are specific to the Houston area and more work needs to be done to see how it translates across the country.
But expanding on this research will be difficult as work like Chakraborty's is uncommon.
"There are few studies of [environmental justice] and disability, let alone the intersection of race, class and disability," Arrianna Planey, an assistant professor of health and policy management at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, told EHN.
Yet, the disabled community has known about these types of issues "for forever," disabled youth organizer Daphne Frias told EHN. Researchers, she added, "have so much to do to catch up."
Dr. Jayajit Chakraborty (Credit: UTEP)
Part of the reason for this gap in environmental justice research is a lack of data on disability.
"I would prefer to do field work to get primary datasurveys or interviewsto understand the lived experiences [of this community]." Chakraborty said. However, due to time and funding constraints, this isn't always feasible. So, Chakraborty, like many other environmental justice scholars, relies on information obtained through other methods, such as through the American Community Survey (ACS).
Unfortunately, this can have several limitations. "The ACS has large margins of error and generally underestimates the prevalence of disability," said Planey, who was not involved with the Houston study.
That's because, for one, people in the disabled community face difficulty being counted by these surveys for reasons that range from inaccessible survey design to the distrust of government surveyors. Also, these surveys are self-reported. Stigma surrounding disability often leads people to forgo identifying as disabled, resulting in an underestimation of their numbers.
That said, despite its imperfections at least the ACS includes data about disability. Chakraborty has noticed that other research surveys often don't even inquire about disability status in the first place.
"There [are questions] for race, ethnicity, and housing status, and other kinds of stuff," he explained. "For a lot of these forms there's no identifier for people with disabilities."
Frias said the lack of available data is just a symptom of a larger problem: ableism.
"It's the idea that disabled lives are unimportant and disabled lives are invisible," she said. "It doesn't matter if where we live makes us even more unhealthy."
Disability is also rarely seen as a full-fledged identity, which is reflected on how it's often framed in environmental justice research. The "focus has generally been more on how environmental injustices cause disability," Catherine Jampel, fellow of the American Council Learned Societies (ACLS), told EHN, "but much less on the specific vulnerabilities of disabled people to environmental injustices."
It's likely this kind of framing that has led to terms like "disability-adjusted life year," which is a common metric used to determine "the years of healthy life lost due to disability" and has recently been used with regards to the health effects of environmental pollution.
But disability isn't just a negative state of being. It's a community who deserves access to a clean environment. Any opposing mindset can hinder developing solutions when it comes to protecting the disabled community from environmental issues, said Planey. "In the ableist cultural milieu, it's difficult to advocate to address both the social conditions that produce disablement and advocate for rights and protections for disabled people," explained Planey.
That's why Frias believes this framing needs to change. "Our community is beautiful and powerful, and I think that needs to be embodied instead of this doom and gloom narrative of how we're perceived."
Chakraborty's goal has always been to expand the scope of environmental justice research. He hopes that studies like his recent one in Houston will "lead to a better inclusion of people with disabilities in environmental justice research and environmental policy." He also believes that it's important that environmental justice uses an intersectional approach when looking at disability.
"We like to see disability as a monolithic system of oppression," said Frias, "But that is not necessarily true." Multiple marginalized identities can compound on each other to increase one's pollution exposure risk.
For example, "Disabled peopleespecially disabled people of colorare much more likely to be impoverished," said Planey, forcing them into low-income housing that is more likely to be built near pollution sites.
Still, there is hope. "With each study that's published, it creates more of a dialogue between [environmental justice and disabled] communities," said Frias, adding that moving forward, it's important that researchers begin reaching out directly to the community and listen to their lived experiences.
"It's the phrase that [disabled people] always say, 'Nothing about us without us.'"
Krystal Vasquez is a Ph.D candidate in the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology. You can reach her at kvasquez@caltech.edu or on Twitter @CaffeinatedKrys
This article was produced through the Agents of Change in Environmental Justice fellowship. Agents of Change empowers emerging leaders from historically excluded backgrounds in science and academia to reimagine solutions for a just and healthy planet.
Banner photo: anjan58/flickr
Follow this link:
Environmental injustice and disability: Where is the research? - Environmental Health News
- Government Oppression Of Climate Protesters Is Rampant. Are You Next? - CleanTechnica - February 5th, 2024 [February 5th, 2024]
- Invasion Day protests oppose oppression of indigenous Australians, genocide in Gaza - WSWS - February 5th, 2024 [February 5th, 2024]
- Florida's 'hostile' laws? Five laws NAACP listed in travel advisory. - St. Augustine Record - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Iran Faces A Huge Budget Deficit It Tries To Conceal - - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Satyendar Jain taken to Safdarjung Hospital after losing 35 kgs - The Statesman - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Opinion: Reassessing the approach to Israel | DW | 22.05.2023 - DW - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Durham Report Is Latest Choose-Your-Own-Reality Adventure - TIME - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- In Conversation with Stan Grant - Honi Soit - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Rep. Bare: Assembly Republicans' local government funding plan is ... - WisPolitics.com - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Never Again Is Right Now in Palestine - Jacobin magazine - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- UF community condemns bill defunding DEI initiatives - The Independent Florida Alligator - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Prices of basic commodities and foods have gone insane in Sierra ... - Sierra Leone Telegraph - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Don't cancel Gladstone. He was a true friend of freedom at home ... - The Telegraph - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- If you want to do things like gender ideology, go to Berkeley: DeSantis bans diversity, equity and inclusion in Florida colleges - The Mercury News - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- TikTok: The new frontier for political info-wars - DAWN.com - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Israeli Apartheid - The Legacy of the Ongoing Nakba at 75 [EN/AR ... - ReliefWeb - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- PPP's CEC condemns attacks on army installations, calls for ... - Pakistan Today - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Tim Scott says Im running for president of the United States in announcement speech live - The Guardian US - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Opinion | America's Poverty Is Built by Design - POLITICO - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- 'Pity these oppressed random attackers': Inside the thoughts of Canada's bail system - National Post - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- How Can We Resist Book Bans? This Banned Author Has Ideas. - Truthout - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Owners of Nigeria and their multiple worlds - Guardian Nigeria - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- When People Decide They Want Change, They Will Bring in Change - The Wire - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- 5 Interesting Facts about Simon Bolivar - The Collector - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- China Built Over A Million Uyghurs "Re-Education Camps" In 6 Years: Report - NDTV - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Queer folk, the hour to save ourselves has come - Daily Maverick - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Preposterous! Book ban adds bureaucracy and removes parents ... - IndyStar - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- End Jew Hatred: Fight for social justice must be above political fray - The Jerusalem Post - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Political strife, not protest anymore - The Korea JoongAng Daily - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- 'A Man Without a Gun Is Not a Citizen' - The Texas Observer - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- State Department Report Says China Oppressed Tibetan Buddhist ... - Central Tibetan Administration - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Facing Reality on South Africa - Council on Foreign Relations - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Federal Charges of Political Activists Show the Racist and ... - Left Voice - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Age of Disorder || Pakistan on the Brink: Down with Capitalist PDM ... - International Socialist - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Tim Stevenson | Living with the Long Emergency: Rising Fascism ... - Brattleboro Reformer - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Members of new City Council weigh in on water bills - CBS Chicago - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- DIIR Statement on 28th Anniversary of Enforced Disappearance of ... - Central Tibetan Administration - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- KAN-WIN shares timeline of gender-based violence toward Asian ... - Daily Northwestern - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Alleged leaker fixated on guns and envisioned 'race war' - The Washington Post - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Employment and Labour pays tribute to Dr Dennis George - South African Government - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Opinion | Trump Cannot Be Unseen - The New York Times - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Toronto to rally against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia ... - NOW Toronto - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Election 2023: Te Pti Mori accuses Prime Minister Chris Hipkins of 'oppression' for telling parties to 'be careful' with demands - Newshub - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- What's the current state of LGBTQ rights in Europe? - Euronews - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Baptist Health Foundation Receives $3 Million Gift from the Jos ... - South Florida Hospital News - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- The Politics and Moral Economics of Seun Kutis Police Assault - Tekedia - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Is a temporary coalition of anger against the old regime a basis for ... - Sierra Leone Telegraph - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Mexico: against 'neoliberalism' or capitalism? The final year of ... - In Defence of Marxism - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- White Christian Nationalism and the 2023 Montana Legislature ... - Daily Montanan - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Left-wing lawmakers press for federal reparations for Black Americans: 'We're here to demand it' - Fox News - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Underground cyphers are helping young Kashmiris reclaim their ... - Huck Magazine - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Tory MP uses controversial term connected to antisemitic conspiracies - The Jerusalem Post - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Fijis 1987 coup: Why did Prime Minister Rabuka apologise to the Indo-Fijian community? - The Indian Express - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Declaration on the Migrant Crisis: Socialists From the U.S., Mexico ... - Left Voice - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- WNBA star Brittney Griner standing and listening to national anthem - Gainesville Sun - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Imran Khan to unveil next plan of action at a rally on Thursday - ANI News - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Delta Youths Threaten Showdown Over Exclusion In Multi-Billion ... - SaharaReporters.com - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Remarks by Homeland Security Advisor Dr. Liz Sherwood-Randall ... - The White House - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Are some human rights more important than others? Religious ... - Jacksonville Journal-Courier - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Postcolonial Plague: The Legacy of Apartheid South Africa in ... - Brown Political Review - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- UN expert urges Japan to step up pressure on Myanmar junta - OHCHR - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- CSIS confirms to MP that he and family were targeted by China - The Globe and Mail - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Opposition leader says govt sent a bureaucrat to talk with calan - Duvar English - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- The Badger Herald Editorial Board: The bounds of free speech The ... - The Badger Herald - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- AIbom NLC to Set up Monitoring Team on Petroleum Products - THISDAY Newspapers - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Amplifying Iranian Voices: The Call for Freedom and Democracy ... - National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- As inequality deepens, who will rewrite the rules? - Al Jazeera English - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Discover the Brilliance of George Orwell: Books That Will Inspire You - Economic Times - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Nature has way of settling scores, says UP CM Yogi Adityanath on Atiq Ahmad's turf - Times of India - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Tens of thousands hold Labor Day rallies nationwide - The Korea Herald - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Incoming Nigerian Government Must Improve Poverty Wage ... - SaharaReporters.com - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Can the European Union Tackle Afghanistan's Crises? - The Diplomat - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Iran sees nationwide protests, night rallies marking Int'l Labor Day | - The Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- G20: Responsibilities of the people of PoK - ANI News - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- From IWD to May Day: Connecting working women's struggles - Spring Magazine - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- 1 May 2023 || The Working Class is Back! ISA - International Socialist - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Are the Marxists on to something? Catholic World Report - Catholic World Report - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Manoj Kumar Jha and Ghazala Jamil write: Why Pratap Bhanu Mehta is wrong about social justice politics and caste census - The Indian Express - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Generational crimes are being committed thick and fast. No wonder Australian kids dont vote conservative - The Guardian - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- A Proclamation on Jewish American Heritage Month, 2023 - U.S. ... - US Embassy and Consulate in Poland - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]