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Health Disparities and the Environment

Racial/ethnic and economic disparities cause many health problems and are very costly to our society. EPA’s mission is to protect human health and safeguard the natural environment for all people, and ensure that no population bears a disproportionate burden, especially those which are susceptible, vulnerable, or socioeconomically disadvantaged.

Healthy People 2020 EPA is supportive of research that will help understand and prevent health disparities from environmental conditions and pollution. EPA shares in the goals of Healthy People 2020, the 10–year national health agenda for the American population, which has set the elimination of health disparities and achieving health equity as top national priorities.

Healthy People 2020 Definitions:
Health Disparity: a particular type of health difference that is closely linked with social, economic, and/or environmental disadvantage. Health disparities adversely affect groups of people who have systematically experienced greater obstacles to health based on their racial or ethnic group; religion; socioeconomic status; gender; age; mental health; cognitive, sensory, or physical disability; sexual orientation or gender identity; geographic location; or other characteristics historically linked to discrimination or exclusion.

Health Equity: attainment of the highest level of health for all people. Achieving health equity requires valuing everyone equally with focused and ongoing societal efforts to address avoidable inequalities, historical and contemporary injustices, and the elimination of health and health care disparities.

Current research suggests that health disparities are produced by both environmental and social forces. Researchers are beginning to evaluate how elevated and/or cumulative environmental exposures combined with pre-existing health conditions in ethnic minority and low-income populations increase the probability of environmentally induced illness and injury. Disproportionate impacts among disadvantaged population groups result from the complex interaction between social, natural and built environmental systems, conditions and policies. Understanding the role and contribution of environment to health disparities allows for the development of policies and interventions that provide primary prevention.

WHAT IS EPA DOING?

Federal Collaboration for Health Disparities Research
EPA has joined the Federal Collaboration for Health Disparities Research. FCHDR’s goal is to ensure that health disparities research is conducted as an integrated and inclusive field of study, rather than as an aggregate of independent research activities occurring in separate research domains. FCHDR Members will work together to explore needs and opportunities for pooling scientific expertise and resources to conduct, translate, and disseminate research most needed to accelerate the elimination of health disparities.

EPA/NIH Disparities Research Partnership
EPA and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) are partnering to support the establishment of transdisciplinary networks of excellence in health disparities research that engages in the complex interaction of biological, social and environmental determinants of population health. NCER and NIMHD recently have funded 10 grant awards to support research initiatives and activities within NIMHD Centers of Excellence program.

Disproportionate Environmental Health Symposium
EPA hosted a groundbreaking national meeting Strengthening Environmental Justice Research and Decision Making: A Symposium on the Science of Disproportionate Environmental Health Impacts to identify opportunities and research needs for better quantifying and characterizing disproportionate environmental health impacts on minority and low income populations that may result from environmental programs, policies, and activities.

View the agenda and presentations from the March 2010 Symposium

Multi-Media

• Webinar: The Use of Race in Environmental Health Research: What Does/Could it Mean? - Watch Webinar now: [Windows Media Player (1:33:38, 152 MB) | Podcast (1:33:38, 131 MB) ] Read Transcript (PDF) (23 pp, 98 K)

Learn about NCER-supported research in areas related to HEALTH DISPARITIES AND THE ENVIRONMENT

• Children's Environmental Health Centers (CEHCs)
• Tribal Research
• Environmental Justice: Partnerships for Communication
• Centers of Excellence on Environment and Health Disparities

Connect to related HEALTH DISPARITIES links, such as organizations, toolkits, online modules, and presentations

• Unnatural Causes
• CDC Health Disparities and Social Determinants of Health Resources
• The Equality Trust
• The MacArthur Research Network on Socioeconomic Status and Health
• WHO Social determinants of health
• Policy Link
• National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities
• National Prevention Council
• NCI’s Health Disparities Calculator
• The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies Health Policy Institute

Recommended Reading (journal, articles and reports) that address Health Disparities and the Environment)

• Gee GC, Payne-Sturges DC. Environmental Health Disparities: A Framework Integrating Psychosocial and Environmental Concepts. Environmental Health Perspectives. 2004;112(17):1645-53.
• LaVeist, TA, Gaskin, DJ, Richard P. 2009. The Economic Burden of Health Inequalities in the United States. The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. Washington, DC
• Additional reading in our eLibrary

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