IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v67y2008i10p1612-1629.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Environmental inequity in England: Small area associations between socio-economic status and environmental pollution

Author

Listed:
  • Briggs, David
  • Abellan, Juan J.
  • Fecht, Daniela

Abstract

Recent studies have suggested that more deprived people tend to live in areas characterised by higher levels of environmental pollution. If generally true, these environmental inequities may combine to cause adverse effects on health and also exacerbate problems of confounding in epidemiological studies. Previous studies of environmental inequity have nevertheless indicated considerable complexity in the associations involved, which merit further investigation using more detailed data and more advanced analytical methods. This study investigates the ways in which environmental inequity in England varies in relation to: (a) different environmental pollutants (measured in different ways); (b) different aspects of socio-economic status; and (c) different geographical scales and contexts (urban vs. rural). Associations were analysed between the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD2004) and its domains and five sets of environmental pollutants (relating to road traffic, industry, electro-magnetic frequency radiation, disinfection by-products in drinking water and radon), measured in terms of proximity, emission intensity and environmental concentration. Associations were assessed using bivariate and multivariate correlation, and by comparing the highest and lowest quintiles of deprivation using Student's t-test and Hotelling's T2. Associations are generally weak (R2Â

Suggested Citation

  • Briggs, David & Abellan, Juan J. & Fecht, Daniela, 2008. "Environmental inequity in England: Small area associations between socio-economic status and environmental pollution," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(10), pages 1612-1629, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:67:y:2008:i:10:p:1612-1629
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277-9536(08)00307-9
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Curtis, Sarah & Southall, H. & Congdon, P. & Dodgeon, B., 2004. "Area effects on health variation over the life-course: analysis of the longitudinal study sample in England using new data on area of residence in childhood," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 58(1), pages 57-74, January.
    2. Northridge, M.E. & Stover, G.N. & Rosenthal, J.E. & Sherard, D., 2003. "Environmental equity and health: Understanding complexity and moving forward," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(2), pages 209-214.
    3. Rachel A Morello-Frosch, 2002. "Discrimination and the Political Economy of Environmental Inequality," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 20(4), pages 477-496, August.
    4. Pamela Davidson & Douglas Anderton, 2000. "Demographics of dumping ii: a national environmental equity survey and the distribution of hazardous materials handlers," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 37(4), pages 461-466, November.
    5. Tomoki Nakaya, 2000. "An Information Statistical Approach to the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem in Incidence Rate Maps," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 32(1), pages 91-109, January.
    6. Douglas Anderton & Andy Anderson & John Oakes & Michael Fraser, 1994. "Environmental Equity: The Demographics of Dumping," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 31(2), pages 229-248, May.
    7. John D. Graham & Nancy Dean Beaulieu & Dana Sussman & March Sadowitz & Yi‐Ching Li, 1999. "Who Lives Near Coke Plants and Oil Refineries? An Exploration of the Environmental Inequity Hypothesis," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(2), pages 171-186, April.
    8. Jerrett, Michael & Eyles, John & Cole, Donald, 1998. "Socioeconomic and environmental covariates of premature mortality in Ontario," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 33-49, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Llop, Sabrina & Ballester, Ferran & Estarlich, Marisa & Iñiguez, Carmen & Ramón, Rosa & Gonzalez, MCarmen & Murcia, Mario & Esplugues, Ana & Rebagliato, Marisa, 2011. "Social factors associated with nitrogen dioxide (NO2) exposure during pregnancy: The INMA-Valencia project in Spain," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(6), pages 890-898, March.
    2. Hackbarth, Andrew D. & Romley, John A. & Goldman, Dana P., 2011. "Racial and ethnic disparities in hospital care resulting from air pollution in excess of federal standards," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(8), pages 1163-1168.
    3. Yong Un Ban & Cheolhee Son & Yumi Kim & Jong In Baek, 2015. "Participatory development of transportation justice indicators using expert surveys and factor analysis," International Review of Public Administration, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(1), pages 84-101, January.
    4. Tarik Benmarhnia & Ianis Delpla & Lara Schwarz & Manuel J. Rodriguez & Patrick Levallois, 2018. "Heterogeneity in the Relationship between Disinfection By-Products in Drinking Water and Cancer: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-13, May.
    5. Carrier, Mathieu & Apparicio, Philippe & Séguin, Anne-Marie & Crouse, Dan, 2019. "School locations and road transportation nuisances in Montreal: An environmental equity diagnosis," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 302-310.
    6. Hodgson, Susan & Namdeo, Anil & Araujo-Soares, Vera & Pless-Mulloli, Tanja, 2012. "Towards an interdisciplinary science of transport and health: a case study on school travel," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 70-79.
    7. Crouse, Dan L. & Ross, Nancy A. & Goldberg, Mark S., 2009. "Double burden of deprivation and high concentrations of ambient air pollution at the neighbourhood scale in Montreal, Canada," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(6), pages 971-981, September.
    8. Wenqin Gong & Yu Kong, 2022. "Nonlinear Influence of Chinese Real Estate Development on Environmental Pollution: New Evidence from Spatial Econometric Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-22, January.
    9. Chenjing Fan & Wei Ouyang & Li Tian & Yan Song & Wensheng Miao, 2019. "Elderly Health Inequality in China and its Determinants: A Geographical Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-18, August.
    10. Carrier, Mathieu & Apparicio, Philippe & Séguin, Anne-Marie, 2016. "Road traffic noise in Montreal and environmental equity: What is the situation for the most vulnerable population groups?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 1-8.
    11. Vivek Shandas & Jackson Voelkel & Meenakshi Rao & Linda George, 2016. "Integrating High-Resolution Datasets to Target Mitigation Efforts for Improving Air Quality and Public Health in Urban Neighborhoods," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-16, August.
    12. Liqin Zhang & Lin Wu, 2021. "Community Environment Perception on Depression: The Mediating Role of Subjective Social Class," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-16, July.
    13. Meen Chel Jung & Jaewoo Park & Sunghwan Kim, 2019. "Spatial Relationships between Urban Structures and Air Pollution in Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-17, January.
    14. Stephen Morse & Ioannis N. Vogiatzakis, 2014. "Resource Use and Deprivation: Geographical Analysis of the Ecological Footprint and Townsend Index for England," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(8), pages 1-23, July.
    15. Weijiang Liu & Mingze Du, 2021. "Is Technological Progress Selective for Multiple Pollutant Emissions?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-17, September.
    16. Mary A. Fox & L. Elizabeth Brewer & Lawrence Martin, 2017. "An Overview of Literature Topics Related to Current Concepts, Methods, Tools, and Applications for Cumulative Risk Assessment (2007–2016)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-28, April.
    17. Gosztonyi, Ákos & Demmler, Joanne C. & Juhola, Sirkku & Ala-Mantila, Sanna, 2023. "Ambient air pollution-related environmental inequality and environmental dissimilarity in Helsinki Metropolitan Area, Finland," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. William Bowen & Mark Atlas & Sugie Lee, 2009. "Industrial agglomeration and the regional scientific explanation of perceived environmental injustice," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 43(4), pages 1013-1031, December.
    2. Wolverton Ann, 2009. "Effects of Socio-Economic and Input-Related Factors on Polluting Plants' Location Decisions," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 9(1), pages 1-32, March.
    3. Schoolman, Ethan D. & Ma, Chunbo, 2012. "Migration, class and environmental inequality: Exposure to pollution in China's Jiangsu Province," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 140-151.
    4. Saha, Shrawantee & Mohr, Robert D., 2013. "Media attention and the Toxics Release Inventory," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 284-291.
    5. Ann Wolverton, 2009. "The Role of Demographic and Cost-Related Factors in Determining Where Plants Locate - A Tale of Two Texas Cities," NCEE Working Paper Series 200903, National Center for Environmental Economics, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, revised Jun 2009.
    6. Alvarez, Camila H. & Evans, Clare Rosenfeld, 2021. "Intersectional environmental justice and population health inequalities: A novel approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    7. Abolfazl Mollalo & Alireza Mohammadi & Sara Mavaddati & Behzad Kiani, 2021. "Spatial Analysis of COVID-19 Vaccination: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-14, November.
    8. You, Liangzhi & Wood, Stanley, 2006. "An entropy approach to spatial disaggregation of agricultural production," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 90(1-3), pages 329-347, October.
    9. Kelvyn Jones & David Manley & Ron Johnston & Dewi Owen, 2018. "Modelling residential segregation as unevenness and clustering: A multilevel modelling approach incorporating spatial dependence and tackling the MAUP," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 45(6), pages 1122-1141, November.
    10. Zahran, Sammy & Iverson, Terrence & McElmurry, Shawn P. & Weiler, Stephan & Levitt, Ryan, 2019. "Hidden Costs of Blight and Arson in Detroit: Evidence From a Natural Experiment in Devil's Night," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 266-277.
    11. Johnson, Rucker C. & Schoeni, Robert F. & Rogowski, Jeannette A., 2012. "Health disparities in mid-to-late life: The role of earlier life family and neighborhood socioeconomic conditions," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(4), pages 625-636.
    12. Laura J. Brown & Sarah Myers & Abigail E. Page & Emily H. Emmott, 2020. "Subjective Environmental Experiences and Women’s Breastfeeding Journeys: A Survival Analysis Using an Online Survey of UK Mothers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-27, October.
    13. Stafford, Mai & Cummins, Steven & Ellaway, Anne & Sacker, Amanda & Wiggins, Richard D. & Macintyre, Sally, 2007. "Pathways to obesity: Identifying local, modifiable determinants of physical activity and diet," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(9), pages 1882-1897, November.
    14. Anthony P. Matejczyk, 2001. "Why Not NIMBY? Reputation, Neighbourhood Organisations and Zoning Boards in a US Midwestern City," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 38(3), pages 507-518, March.
    15. Andrea L. Moore, 2017. "An examination of the influence of environmental justice policy, Executive Order 12898, on the spatial concentration of manufacturing facilities in EPA Region 6 1988-2009," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 7(3), pages 377-385, September.
    16. Jean Woo & Ruth Chan & Jason Leung & Moses Wong, 2010. "Relative Contributions of Geographic, Socioeconomic, and Lifestyle Factors to Quality of Life, Frailty, and Mortality in Elderly," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 5(1), pages 1-11, January.
    17. Christoph Lambio & Tillman Schmitz & Richard Elson & Jeffrey Butler & Alexandra Roth & Silke Feller & Nicolai Savaskan & Tobia Lakes, 2023. "Exploring the Spatial Relative Risk of COVID-19 in Berlin-Neukölln," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(10), pages 1-22, May.
    18. Baryshnikova, Nadezhda V., 2010. "Pollution abatement and environmental equity: A dynamic study," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 183-190, September.
    19. Klara Zwickl & Mathias Moser, 2014. "Informal environmental regulation of industrial air pollution: Does neighborhood inequality matter?," Department of Economics Working Papers wuwp192, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Department of Economics.
    20. Tukufu Zuberi, 2000. "Deracializing Social Statistics: Problems in the Quantification of Race," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 568(1), pages 172-185, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:67:y:2008:i:10:p:1612-1629. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.