By Jessie Laurore, Yuko Ekyalongo, Salomon Villatoro, et al., Child Trends, February 9, 2021
Environmental racism occurs when policies and practices disproportionately expose Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color (BIPOC communities) to pollution and hazardous conditions in their homes, neighborhoods, places of work, and other parts of their lives. Despite the direct role of policy and regulations in creating and perpetuating environmental racism, its harmful, lasting effects on children are often left out of discussions about addressing environmental issues like pollution and climate change. An understanding that environmental racism poses harm to children—and of the ways in which environmental racism is brought about by deliberate human choices—can help youth, parents, educators, researchers, and policymakers more effectively dismantle this systemic injustice.
Available evidence finds that BIPOC communities are more likely to be exposed to environmental harm. For example, Black and Latinx populations are more likely than their white counterparts to live in neighborhoods with higher air pollution. Young Black children are also significantly more likely to have higher blood lead levels than their white neighbors, from sources like chipping lead paint or water (e.g., the crisis of lead-poisoned water in Flint, MI and the long-neglected soil contamination in the West Calumet Housing Complex in East Chicago, IN). Elsewhere, Indigenous communities repeatedly witness soil and water contamination as a result of mining and other polluting industries (a reality brought to the public’s attention by the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota and the Tar Creek Superfund Site in Oklahoma).
These and other environmental threats are more harmful to children because kids take in more air, food, and water as a proportion of their body weight than adults and are less able to break down toxins in their bodies with their developing metabolism. Young children also tend to spend more time outdoors and near the ground, and often bring their hands to their mouths, which can increase their exposure to toxins. Toxins that remain in children’s bodies after exposure may affect their developing nervous, respiratory, and immune systems. Early life exposure to air pollutants, for example, increases the risk of asthma, which can undermine learning. Lead exposure early in life can impair cognitive development and increase behavioral issues in youth and neurological conditions in adulthood. Furthermore, the neighborhood amenities that are beneficial for children’s cognitive development and mental health, such as better-quality parks with more space or safe walkable streets, are more scarce in low-income communities and communities of color.
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