| Title: | Data-Quality Assessment Signals Toxic-Site Safety Threats and Environmental Injustices |
| Author(s): | Shrader-Frechette K; Biondo AM; |
| Address: | "Department of Biological Sciences, 100 Malloy Hall, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA. Department of Economics, 3060 Jenkins Nanovic Hall, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA" |
| Journal Title: | Int J Environ Res Public Health |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1660-4601 (Electronic) 1661-7827 (Print) 1660-4601 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Most hazardous-waste sites are located in urban areas populated by disproportionate numbers of children, minorities, and poor people who, as a result, face more severe pollution threats and environmental-health inequalities. Partly to address this harm, in 2017 the United Nations unanimously endorsed the New Urban Agenda, which includes redeveloping urban-infill-toxic-waste sites. However, no systematic, independent analyses assess the public-health adequacy of such hazardous-facility redevelopments. Our objective is to provide a preliminary data-quality assessment (PDQA) of urban-infill-toxic-site testing, conducted by private redevelopers, including whether it adequately addresses pollution threats. To this end, we used two qualitative, weight-of-evidence methods. Method 1 employs nine criteria to select assessments for PDQA and help control for confounders. To conduct PDQA, Method 2 uses three US Environmental Protection Agency standards-the temporal, geographical, and technological representativeness of sampling. Our Method 1 results reveal four current toxic-site assessments (by CBRE/Trammell Crow, the world's largest commercial developer); at all of these sites the main risk drivers are solvents, volatile organic compounds, including trichloroethylene. Our Method 2 results indicate that all four assessments violate most PDQA standards and systematically underestimate health risk. These results reveal environmental injustice, disproportionate health threats to children/minorities/poor people at all four sites. Although preliminary, our conclusion is that alleviating harm and environmental-health inequalities posed by urban-infill-toxic-site pollution may require improving both the testing/cleanup/redevelopment requirements of the New Urban Agenda and the regulatory oversight of assessment and remediation performed by private redevelopers" |
| Keywords: | Child Environmental Pollution Hazardous Substances *Hazardous Waste Sites Humans *Trichloroethylene United States United States Environmental Protection Agency CBRE/Trammell Crow data-quality analysis environmental justice hazardous waste pollution toxin; |
| Notes: | "MedlineShrader-Frechette, Kristin Biondo, Andrew M eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Switzerland 2021/03/07 Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Feb 19; 18(4):2012. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18042012" |
