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Often, vulnerable communities in the U.S. face the highest risks from individual environmental burdens, such as exposure to toxic air pollutants. Now, new research shows that these communities are also exposed to a disproportionate number of multiple high-intensity burdens at once. In particular, in communities of color and communities with limited English fluency face an outsized likelihood of experiencing multiple burdens at once. 

“These relationships were stronger for racial and ethnic categories than for other socioeconomic categories, reflecting outcomes of a long history of public policies that have segregated and disadvantaged certain populations in the U.S.,” Mohai said.

The lead author of the new report is Paul Mohai, a professor at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS), and it was co-authored by Charles Lee, a visiting scholar at the Howard University School of Law and former director of the Office of Environmental Justice at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 

Read the full press release on the Michigan News website.

Study: Cumulative Environmental Burdens and Vulnerable Populations: Taking into Account the Intensity and Count of Burdens in Environmental Justice Analyses (DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ae2c0d)