Summary on the First Annual Symposium on Environmental Justice and Environmental Health Disparities in Maryland and DC

Abstract

Statistics have demonstrated that although we have progressed toward reducing environmental health disparities in the United States, there is still much work to be done. Health disparities result from multiple factors including poverty, environmental threats, inadequate access to health care, and individual and behavioral factors. In an effort to address environmental justice and environmental health disparities in the state of Maryland and Washington, DC, community members, researchers, public health practitioners, policymakers, students, and advocates along with the Community Engagement, Environmental Justice, and Health (CEEJH) team gathered for the First Annual Symposium on Environmental Justice and Environmental Health Disparities in Maryland and DC in December 2012. The goal of the symposium was to establish and sustain a community engaged research enterprise on critical environmental health disparities and environmental justice issues, to raise the visibility of racial and ethnic environmental health disparities and feasible solutions with Marylanders, DC residents, and regional stakeholders, and facilitate action for change. The sessions included topics on the regional watersheds, built environment, toxic chemicals, traffic and air pollution, law and policy, best practices, and community-based participatory research. As a result of the successful meeting, an environmental justice coalition in the Maryland and Washington, DC region was established.