Abstract
Maryland residents’ knowledge of environmental hazards and their health effects is limited, partly due to the absence of tools to map and visualize distribution of risk factors across sociodemographic groups. This study discusses the development of the Maryland EJSCREEN (MD EJSCREEN) tool by the National Center for Smart Growth in partnership with faculty at the University of Maryland School of Public Health. The tool assesses environmental justice risks similarly to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) EJSCREEN tool and California’s tool, CalEnviroScreen 3.0. We discuss the architecture and functionality of the tool, indicators of importance, and how it compares to USEPA’s EJSCREEN and CalEnviroScreen. We demonstrate the use of MD EJSCREEN through a case study on Bladensburg, Maryland, a town in Prince George’s County (PG) with several environmental justice concerns including air pollution from traffic and a concrete plant. Comparison reveals that environmental and demographic indicators in MD EJSCREEN most closely resemble those in EPA EJSCREEN, while the scoring is most similar to CalEnviroScreen. Case study results show that Bladensburg has a Prince George’s environmental justice score of 0.99, and that National Air Toxics Assessment (NATA) air toxics cancer risk is concentrated in communities of color.
Highlights
Environmental justice research since the 1970s has illustrated siting disparities of environmental hazards and locally unwanted land uses (LULUs) in communities of color [1,2,3,4,5]
The use of Geographic Information System (GIS) and ParticipatoryGeographic Information System (PPGIS) in public health research has produced a wealth of information that can be used to improve the quality of life in overburdened neighborhoods
Through a series of demonstration workshops, feedback was gathered from groups of stakeholders including Prince George’s County residents in order to develop, improve, and determine any and all environmental, population, and health indicators that would be included in MD EJSCREEN
Summary
Environmental justice research since the 1970s has illustrated siting disparities of environmental hazards and locally unwanted land uses (LULUs) in communities of color [1,2,3,4,5]. There are a number of environmental stressors that affect the physical and social well-being of a population such as: (1) proximity to hazardous waste sites, (2) exposure to air and water pollution, (3) residential crowding, (4) high levels of ambient noise, (5) the work environment, and (6) quality of local schools [8,9,10,11]. These harmful exposures have been examined using Geographic Information System (GIS) and Public Participatory. Public Health 2019, 16, 348; doi:10.3390/ijerph16030348 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
