Proximity to Industrial Releases of Toxins and Childhood Respiratory, Developmental, and Neurological Diseases: Environmental Ascription in East Baton Rouge Parish

Recent research by Legot et al. (2010a, 2010b) has identified East Baton Rouge Parish (EBR) as a locus of particularly high volumes of emissions of developmental neurotoxins, i.e., those toxins that put children’s health and, especially, learning abilities at greatest risk. Many developmental neurotoxins are also classified as respiratory toxins, which are also linked to the sorts of childhood diseases (e.g., asthma) that impact school performance. This case study specifies the degree to which proximity to the main sources of these toxins in EBR is associated with high rates of neurodevelopmental diseases and childhood asthma. We also examine the relationship between proximity to toxins and race and class.<span>  </span>We find very strong patterns: disease rates are significantly higher in zip codes close to pollution “hot spots” than in more distant zip codes, as are percent minority and percent poverty.<span>  </span>This is evidence of “environmental ascription”, the existence of multiple, overlapping ascriptions based on race, class, and “place”.<span>  </span>Vulnerable populations are disproportionately exposed to the sorts of toxins that limit their life chances.<p></p>environmental ascription; developmental neurotoxins; respiratory toxins; childhood diseases; vulnerable populations

The Proximity of High Volume Developmental Neurotoxin Polluters to Schools: Vulnerable Populations at Risk

A substantial amount of environmental justice research has taken the form of “proximity studies” that analyze the race and class composition of populations living in close proximity to general sources of pollution. Such studies often find disproportionate minority, poverty, and low-income populations proximate to the pollution source. This proximity study has a different starting point. We begin by locating nearly 700 of the nation’s highest volume polluters of specific toxins that put children’s health and learning abilities at risk: developmental neurotoxins. We then examine (a) the numbers of schools and children located within two miles of each polluter, and (b) the race and class compositions of the populations within two miles. The result is a study of the proximity of vulnerable populations to pollution that highlights the vulnerability of children, not just that of minorities and the poor. We find thousands of schools and hundreds of thousands of children at risk. We also find that a substantial proportion of the high volume polluters studied are surrounded by disproportionate minority, poverty, and low-income populations.proximity studies; environmental inequality; developmental toxins; neurotoxins; high-volume polluters; vulnerable populations: race and class, schools and children

La glycogenose de type 1a

AIX-MARSEILLE2-BU Pharmacie (130552105) / SudocSudocFranceF

Environmental ascription: High-volume polluters, schools, and human capital

Studies of ascription often focus on the relationship between inherited characteristics such as gender, race, or social class and educational inequalities that limit life chances. This project proposes that reduced educational outcomes, and hence ascription, can also emerge from physical/spatial inequalities, specifically, the place where a child attends school. The place where one lives is often not a matter of choice; rather, it is determined by other ascriptive forces such as race and social class-hence making environmental ascription not only a physical dimension of inequality in the direct sense but also another dimension of socially constructed inequality in the indirect sense. The prevalence of toxins near schools and the potential correlation with limited life chances and racial and class characteristics remains an understudied topic in the environmental inequality literature. To explore these connections, the authors mapped the locations of the top 100 polluters of developmental and neurotoxins in the United States and then determined the number of schools within a 2-mile radius, as well as the racial and socioeconomic composition of the areas surrounding each site. Overall, it was found that a significant proportion of the top industrial polluters were located in close proximity to multiple schools and that these schools were more likely to be located in neighborhoods with a disproportionate number of poor, minority residents. Because this exploratory study reveals a pattern of exposure to developmental neurotoxins in precisely those places where educational outcomes are already compromised, it suggests the need for further research specifying the relationship between environmental inequalities and school performance. © 2010 SAGE Publications

Toxic Pollution and School Performance Scores

The current study adds to the literature linking environmental pollution and disparities in educational outcomes among vulnerable populations by measuring variations in school performance scores in East Baton Rouge (EBR) Parish, Louisiana. The authors ask whether the unique, place-specific, results of a study such as the 2004 study by Pastor, Sadd, and Morello-Frosch, specifically the finding that schools\u27 academic performance scores are negatively related to proximity to major polluters, can be made somewhat more general by examining a similar relationship in another location. The authors closely approximate the model and methodology used by Pastoret al.and then respecify that model by including new independent variables with a particular focus on alternative and more nuanced measures of proximity to polluters as indicators of potential human exposure. Furthermore, they analyze the relationship between proximity and achievement in terms of disproportionate effects on human capital experienced by vulnerable populations. The findings provide evidence of environmental ascription, the idea that place (especially, attending school in polluted places) has ascriptive properties. The authors find that, all else equal, their several measures of proximity (to Toxics Release Inventory facilities in general, to high concentrations of toxic emissions, and to high-volume polluters of developmental neurotoxins) are significantly related to school performance scores throughout EBR Parish. © SAGE Publications 2011

Proximity to industrial toxins and childhood respiratory, developmental, and neurological diseases: Environmental ascription in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana

Recent research has identified East Baton Rouge Parish (EBR), Louisiana, as a locus of particularly high volumes of emissions of developmental neurotoxins, i. e., those toxins that put children\u27s health and, especially, learning abilities at greatest risk. This case study specifies the degree to which proximity to the main sources of these toxins in EBR is associated, in a bivariate sense, with high rates of neurodevelopmental diseases among children, as well as rates of childhood asthma, at the zip code level. We also examine the bivariate relationship between proximity to toxins and race and class. Even within this highly polluted context encompassing twenty zip codes, we find very strong patterns: disease rates are significantly higher in zip codes close to pollution hot spots than in more distant zip codes, as are percent minority and percent poverty. These patterns add to the body of evidence on environmental ascription , the existence of multiple, overlapping ascriptions based on race, class, and place , with additional emphasis on, and implications for, children\u27s health. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC