Toxic Inequality: Environmental Hazards Endangering Marginalized Health

Authored by: Josh Chelliah

Art by: Andrew Mo

While many in the United States enjoy the comfort of where they live, this unfortunately cannot be said for many marginalized communities. These marginalized communities, particularly low-income groups and communities of color, are disproportionately exposed to toxic polluting industries and environmental hazards. This results in adverse health outcomes such as higher rates of asthma, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Minority neighborhoods tend to have higher rates of mortality, morbidity, and health risk factors compared with white neighborhoods, even after accounting for socioeconomic status (SES) [1]. Moreover, factories and power plants are often purposefully built in places where environmental regulations are few and these areas tend to be lower-income neighborhoods.Notably, a study in California found that…\245 toxic polluting facilities were deliberately placed in poor communities [2]. This issue reflects deep-standing structural inequities in housing, zoning, and environmental policy, making it a key concern for health equity and public policy. This is an issue that demands urgent attention from lawmakers, urban planners, and healthcare providers to dismantle the legacy of environmental racism and promote equitable living conditions for all communities regardless of their SES or background.

But first, we must ask ourselves: why and how has this occurred? To understand the disproportionate burden of environmental hazards on marginalized communities, it is necessary to define the phenomenon of environmental racism and explore how it manifests in cities like Atlanta and Chicago. Environmental racism refers to any policy, practice or directive that disproportionately affects or disadvantages (whether unintended or intended) individuals, groups, or communities based on race or color [3]. This specific type of racism has manifested itself all over the United States. For example, in the city of Atlanta, Georgia, over 60% of those living near landfills in Atlanta are Black, despite being only around 30% of the metro Atlanta population [3]. This demonstrates that Black communities tend to be disproportionately exposed to harmful pollutants in comparison to  their fellow White counterparts despite making up less of the population. This is also reflected in Chicago, Illinois, where on the South and West sides, predominantly Black and Latinx neighborhoods have long been adjacent to industrial zones, which has led  to elevated rates of asthma (due to air pollutants) and lead exposure [4]

. As demonstrated by these two examples, these trends are not isolated to one specific region in the United States but are instead tied to a broader underlying theme: zoning and power. Zoning laws are legal frameworks used by local governments that divide land into sections (or “zones”) and determine how land in each area can be used for residential, commercial, industrial, or agricultural purposes. While zoning laws were used to control how land could be used, often for good intentions, they were also frequently manipulated to segregate neighborhoods by race and class. Working in tandem with zoning was another discriminatory practice: redlining. Redlining involved the federal government and private banks systematically denying loans and investment to neighborhoods deemed “risky” which were often overwhelmingly communities of color and these areas were notably outlined in red on government maps [5].

 Another important and widely used practice were racial covenants, which are defined as legal clauses in property deeds that prohibited the sale of property to non-white buyers, especially African Americans. These racial covenants were intended to keep all white neighborhoods all white. Prospective Black homeowners were frequently discouraged through discriminatory lending practices, and those who did manage to purchase homes often faced harassment, threats, and even physical violence from white residents determined to maintain racially segregated neighborhoods [6]. 

 Moreover, white neighborhoods were often explicitly zoned to exclude industry or high-density housing (multi-story apartments, condominiums, etc), meaning they were better protected from environmental hazards. However, Black and low-income areas were zoned for mixed or industrial use, paving the way for toxic dump sites, interstate highways, incinerators, and other undesirable structures. This is because Black and Latino communities have long been politically marginalized; they were often seen by policy makers and industry leaders as more vulnerable and least resistant for the placing of toxic polluting facilities and other undesirable industries [3]. Therefore, redlining and other policies reflect a deeper and racist social logic: to maintain racial segregation and privilege at the expense of environmental health for others. The fact that most industrial zones are close to communities of color and low-income areas should be no surprise when we notice that an individual’s life expectancy can vary by 20 years between two neighborhoods 10 miles apart in Atlanta. Another problem arises when lawmakers refuse to acknowledge or help undue these systemic burdens that many communities face due to policies enacted 70-80 years ago. 

Therefore, environmental justice must go beyond addressing toxic exposures and instead confront the broader systems of inequality that shape land use, urban planning and political power. Achieving health equity requires more than just environmental reform. It demands a systemic restructuring of how decisions are made, whose voices are heard, and whose communities are deemed worth protecting and indeed all communities regardless of race, religion, or SES are worth protecting [6]. 

References

1. Gee, G. C., & Payne-Sturges, D. C. (2004). Environmental health disparities: A framework integrating psychosocial and environmental concepts. Environmental Health Perspectives, 112(17), 1645–1653. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.7074

2. Currit, E. (2022). Disproportionate exposure to air pollution for low-income communities in the United States. Ballard Brief, 2022(2). https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/ballardbrief/vol2022/iss2/6/

3. Suman, D. (1992). Robert Bullard: Dumping in Dixie: Race, class, and environmental quality [Review of Dumping in Dixie: Race, class, and environmental quality, by R. D. Bullard]. Ecology Law Quarterly, 19(3), 591–609. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24113114

4. Pastor, M., Sadd, J., & Hipp, J. (2001). Which came first? Toxic facilities, minority move-in, and environmental justice. Journal of Urban Affairs, 23(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1111/0735-2166.00072

5. Hayes, A. (2025). What is redlining? Definition, legality, and effects. Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/redlining.asp

6. University of Minnesota Libraries. (n.d.). What is a covenant? Mapping Prejudice. Retrieved November 3, 2025, from https://mappingprejudice.umn.edu/racial-covenants/what-is-a-covenant

7. Brulle, R. J., & Pellow, D. N. (2006). Environmental justice: Human health and environmental inequalities. Annual Review of Public Health, 27(1), 103–124