Chemical exposures, health and environmental justice in communities living on the fenceline of industry. Department of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California & Department of Health Education, San Francisco State University ,  Polluting industries are more likely to be located in low income communities of color who also experience greater social stressors that may make them more vulnerable than others to the health impacts of toxic chemical exposures. We describe recent developments in assessing pollutant exposures and health threats posed by industrial facilities using or releasing synthetic chemicals to nearby communities in the U.S.

Recent findings.......More people are living near oil and gas development due to the expansion of unconventional extraction techniques as well as near industrial animal operations, both with suggestive evidence of increased exposure to hazardous pollutants and adverse health effects. Legacy contamination continues to adversely impact a new generation of residents in fenceline communities, with recent studies documenting exposures to toxic metals and poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). Researchers are also giving consideration to acute exposures resulting from inadvertent industrial chemical releases, including those resulting from extreme weather events linked to climate change. Natural experiments of industrial closures or clean ups provide compelling evidence that exposures from industry harm the health of nearby residents.

Summary........New and legacy industries, coupled with climate change, present unique health risks to communities living near industry due to the release of toxic chemicals. Cumulative impacts from multiple stressors faced by environmental justice communities may amplify these adverse effects.

Keywords: Environmental justice, climate justice, oil and gas development, industrial pollution, natural technological disasters 

  • Introduction: Synthetic chemical compounds have drastically transformed many human activities, such as through the production of food, consumer products and energy. As tens of thousands of new chemicals have been synthesized, highly unequal patterns of exposure to pollution waste streams has resulted with communities living on the fenceline of such industries being particularly at risk of harmful exposures []. The past four decades have brought to light the role of policies, land-use decisions, regulations, and market-based forces in contributing to social inequalities in residential proximity to industry and resultant exposures to harmful chemicals that disproportionately impact low-income communities of color []. Even as toxic exposures and associated health risks have been on the decline nationally, such reductions have been less evident in low-income communities and communities of color [] []. In many cases, these fenceline industries are un- or under-regulated and the surrounding communities often have less access to resources for conducting research into the relationships between industry, environmental quality, and health conditions []. 
  • Facing environmental hazards, community organizations and the environmental justice movement have turned to gathering data in the face of government inaction or industry denial about chemical exposures []. In many cases, primary or secondary data demonstrating the presence of harmful pollutants in the environment near industry has been insufficient to prompt regulatory or policy action; rather, it has also been necessary to demonstrate people’s exposure and that exposure causes adverse health effects [, ]. However, linking local industrial pollution with environmental health impacts presents unique challenges. For example, while advancements in biomonitoring have enabled better estimation of human exposures to synthetic chemicals, attributing those exposures to a local industry is difficult, particularly in environmental justice communities because they often are subject to multiple sources of pollution. Epidemiological studies in fenceline communities must confront power limitations due to small sample sizes and issues of confounding, since fenceline communities are typically also of low socioeconomic status and struggling with social as well as environmental stressors to health. In this paper, we review recent environmental health literature regarding communities living in close proximity to industrial pollution sources and advancements in the field, focusing on studies in the United States (U.S.). We searched for original articles published in the last 3 years that included hazardous point sources of man-made chemicals and measured a health (or biomarker) endpoint among residents living in close proximity. For purposes of this review, our emphasis was on hazardous facilities that use or emit synthetic chemicals. Literature from the past three years fitting these criteria were reviewed and synthesized based on commonalities and methods. 
  • We summarize recent evidence that the expansion of oil and gas extraction has resulted in chemical exposures to nearby communities that may be impacting health. Similarly, the growth of industrial animal operations (e.g. hogs, dairies, poultry) has been associated with adverse health impacts in nearby, largely rural communities. We also find that legacy contaminants from other industries continue to impact a new generation due to a lack of adequate clean up. Finally, we find that accidental industrial releases are becoming of greater concern with the increase in extreme weather events due to climate change, with implications for harmful chemical exposures in nearby communities. We also review several recent studies that have used a “natural experiment” design to compellingly demonstrate the health impacts of industry on fenceline communities, overcoming some of the challenges in quantifying the health impacts of exposures related to local industry.......read the study and report     https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7035204/