Utilizing GIS and mapping for more equitable distributions of environmental health services to spanish speaking populations

Knowledge of the geographic distributions of potential toxic environmental exposures as well as key demographic indicators is essential to targeted outreach to vulnerable populations and addressing environmental health disparities. The Region II Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU), which covers New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, was created to ensure that communities have access to specialized medical knowledge and resources for children faced with environmental hazards. According to the U.S. Census and the Natural Resource Defense Council, a disproportionate amount of the Region II Spanish-speaking population live in poor housing with existing patterns of environmental injustice. As a result, they face some of the most significant burdens of environmental-related illness such as asthma, birth defects, and obesity. The goal of this project was to create a Geographic Information System (GIS) of data on childhood disease, environmental exposures, and demographic indicators for Spanish speaking communities at the county level for all of Region II, and the neighborhood level for New York City. Additionally, environmental justice organizations as well as PEHSU historical calls and outreach events from the database were integrated into the GIS in order to assess future outreach steps and high priority sites such as northern New Jersey, southern New York, and most areas of Puerto Rico. Furthermore, the study analysis will provide information to advance the development of new tools, such as a map atlas, to assist communities with environmental risk assessments and hazardous prioritization, and to create a model of service expansion for other PEHSU sites both nationally and internationally.