The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #74926

Aditi Vaidya, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 437 Kensington Parc Drive, Avondale Estates, GA 30002, 404-386-4952, avaidya@sph.emory.edu

Since 1982, when over 500 African Americans were arrested for protesting against the placement of a hazardous waste landfill in their community of Warren County, North Carolina, environmental justice has been put on the radar screen of environmental and health officials across the United States. Thousands of low-income, people of color have been exposed to hazardous chemicals. Many chemicals, that together form a synergy, have unknown public health consequences. Scientific evidence continues to mount as hundreds of people, many of whom are children, from environmental justice communities are diagnosed and later dying of leukemia, lupus, respiratory diseases, birth defects, skin lesions and mesothelioma every year. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) have been given the tasks of determining the chemical exposures to environmental justice communities, communicating the risks associated with these exposures to these communities and bringing the violations made by parties responsible for these exposures to justice. Communication is an overarching problem that exists between environmental justice communities and these federal agencies. This session will provide definitions for environmental justice and health communications. An overview of the history of communication between environmental justice communities, the ATSDR and the EPA will be presented. The problems, ranging from various risk communications practices to environmental justice organizing strategies, will be described to highlight the human rights crisis at hand. The challenges in health communication will be presented using national cases such as KellyUSA in San Antonio, Texas and Portland Cement in Rillito, Arizona.

Learning Objectives:

• After reviewing the poster presentation, observers will be able to:
• 1. Understand environmental justice as a human rights issue, specifically the dangers of environmental hazards to communities of color in the United States;
• 2. Identify the main health communication challenges in environmental justice terms; as well as the mission of environmental justice in communities and the roles of ATSDR and EPA;
• 3. Identify issues and concerns with language, decision-making and funding that greatly hinder the ability for environmental justice organizations, ATSDR and EPA to work together to address human rights violations and environmental racism.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.