Abstract
Many industrialized communities in Baltimore, Maryland, lack information about the levels of air pollution, environmental hazards, or related health statistics in their neighborhoods. This gap prompted the development and utilization of the Maryland (MD) Environmental Justice Screening (EJSCREEN) tool, to determine the correlation of the overall MD EJSCORE and existing demographic and environmental MD EJSCREEN indicators, with selected health outcomes in Baltimore. The tool assesses environmental justice risks similar to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (US EPA) EJSCREEN tool and California’s tool, CalEnviroScreen 3.0. Specifically, we focused on life expectancy, adequate birth weight, and all-cause mortality present in the Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance (BNIA) 2017 dataset. Overall, we observed a moderate-to-strong relationship between fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and MD EJSCORE percentiles with the three health outcomes. Individually, MD EJSCORE is a statistically significant parameter toward estimating health outcomes in Baltimore. This cements MD EJSCREEN as an effective tool in capturing the intersectionality between environmental burden, vulnerable population, and health disparities. Based on these findings, Maryland must adopt standards, such as restricting permits for polluting facilities, encouraging uptake of electric vehicles, and promoting clean energy to ameliorate air quality in disadvantaged communities, particularly in Baltimore.
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