Main description:

This book provides geographic perspectives and approaches for use in assessing the distribution of environmental health hazards and disease outcomes among disadvantaged population groups. Estimates suggest that about forty per cent of the global burden of disease is attributable to exposures to biological and chemical pathogens in the physical environment. And with today's rapid rate of globalization, and these hazardous health effects are likely to increase, with low income and underrepresented communities facing even greater risks. In many places around the world, marginalized communities unwillingly serve as hosts of noxious facilities such as chemical industrial plants, extractive facilities (oil and mining) and other destructive land use activities. Others are being used as illegal dumping grounds for hazardous materials and electronic wastes resulting in air, soil and groundwater contamination.
The book informs readers about the geography and emergent health risks that accompany the location of these hazards, with emphasis on vulnerable population groups. The approach is applications-oriented, illustrating the use of health data and geographic approaches to uncover the root causes, contextual factors and processes that produce contaminated environments. Case studies are drawn from the author's research in the United States and Africa, along with a literature review of related studies completed in Europe, Asia and South America. This comparative approach allows readers to better understand the manifestation of environmental hazards and inequities at different spatial scales with localized disparities evident in both developed and developing countries.

Contents:

Part 1: Themes and Concepts 1. Geographic Foundations of Environmental Health Hazards: The Need for A Place-Based Perspective 2. Environmental Health and Disease Indicators: Valuation Measures, Transition Frameworks, and Burden of Disease Estimates 3. Population Health Disparities and Social Injustices: Indicators and Spatial Patterns 4. Conceptualization and Measurement of Race, Ethnicity and Class 5. Environmental Health Data Collection, Analysis and Visualization: An Overview of Geographic Methodologies Part 2: Environmental Aspects of Health Disparities 6. Global Climate Change and Environmental Degradation: Place Vulnerability and Public Health Challenges 7. A Spatial Analysis of Emergent and Re-Emergent Public Health Risks 8. Toxic Chemicals: Disparate Patterns of Exposure and Health Outcomes 9. Geographic Principles of Environmental Justice and Equity 10. Global Geographies Environmental Injustice and Health Inequities 11. Population Disparities in Water Access, Sanitation and Health Implications 12. Food Justice, Nutritional Security and Pediatric Health Outcomes Part 3: Social Attributes and Economic Factors in Population Health Disparities 13. Poverty, Race and Place: A Triple Whammy Hypothesis for Minority Health Geographies 14. Globalization, Population Mobility and Immigrant Health Disparities 15. Group Disparities in Access, Quality and Utilization of Health Resources 16. Exploring Pathways to Environmental, Health and Social Equity