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 publi c 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, cultu re, ethnicity, gender, race, or socioeconomic status. This paper highl ights several key methodological issues that need to be addressed as p art of ongoing efforts to strengthen the scientific foundation for inf ormed decision-making regarding environmental justice. Specifically, c areful thought must be given to the selection of appropriate (1) stati stical tests, (2) geographic unit(s) of analysis, (3)exposure estimato rs, and (4) comparison (reference) populations. These methodological i ssues are examined in the context of a nationwide study looking at the differences by ethnicity/race and household income in county-level ai r emissions of industrial chemicals. National and regional comparisons are made for 1990 using emission estimates from the Toxic Release Inv entory, demographic data from the Census, and income data from the Don nelley Marketing Information Services.