DISTRIBUTION OF INDUSTRIAL AIR EMISSIONS BY INCOME AND RACE IN THE UNITED-STATES - AN APPROACH USING THE TOXIC RELEASE INVENTORY

There currently is a scarcity of scientific information to guide public policy decisions about issues of ''environmental justice''; broadly defined as the goal of achieving adequate protection from the harmful effects of environmental agents for everyone, regardless of age, culture, ethnicity, gender, race, or socioeconomic status. This paper highlights several key methodological issues that need to be addressed as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen the scientific foundation for informed decision-making regarding environmental justice. Specifically, careful thought must be given to the selection of appropriate (1) statistical tests, (2) geographic unit(s) of analysis, (3)exposure estimators, and (4) comparison (reference) populations. These methodological issues are examined in the context of a nationwide study looking at the differences by ethnicity/race and household income in county-level air emissions of industrial chemicals. National and regional comparisons are made for 1990 using emission estimates from the Toxic Release Inventory, demographic data from the Census, and income data from the Donnelley Marketing Information Services.