Exposure to Extremely Hazardous Substances

1. Exposure to Extremely Hazardous Substances The likelihood of exposure to hazardous substances based on economic status and race Paper by J. Chakraborty. 2001. Risk Analysis, 21(5): 883-895 Presented by Jeffrey Tate, Enivronmental Studies, Geog 370, 3/1/2010

2. Differences in Exposure • Problem: Whether or not minorities and people of lower economic status are more likely to be exposed to extremely hazardous substances • Hypothesis: Minorities and people below the poverty line have significantly more exposure to extremely hazardous chemicals than whites and those above the poverty level

3. Methods • Site: Hillsborough County, Florida • Determined within the county: Number of facilities that use extremely hazardous substances, where they are, what substances they house (from RMPs) • Estimates for 1997 based on Census data were used to determine the racial composition and poverty status of the population in the county • The locations of the facilities were geocoded onto the street network and used with the Census data to see what groups of people were close to the facilities

4. Results • Non-white people had a higher risk of potential exposure to accidental releases of extremely hazardous chemicals than white people • People below the poverty line had a higher risk of potential exposure than those above the line

6. Conclusions • There is a clear difference between the potential exposure of hazardous substances between minorities and whites, and those above the poverty line and below • There are clear racial and economic inequalities in the distribution of accidental exposure to hazardous substances • Criticisms • Does not determine whether communities or facilities come first • Does not examine actual health effects due to exposure of hazardous substances