The U.S. government will award $7 million in grants for research into the cumulative health effects of environmental pollution and social factors such as stress and poor nutrition in low-income communities. While the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) typically limits its research to the effects of individual pollutants and chemicals, this initiative will target neighborhoods that are exposed to multiple factors that scientists say can amplify the effects of toxic pollutants. The grants will support research into the combined effects of metals and stress on the central nervous system; disparities in air pollution risks; the effects of stress and traffic pollution on childhood asthma; and the reasons that some ethnic groups are more susceptible to environmental health risks. “This research could pave the way for more interdisciplinary work that is responsive to community concerns and environmental justice,” said Paul Anastas, assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Research and Development.
Effects of Poverty, Pollution To Be Researched in Long-term EPA Study
More From E360
-
INTERVIEW
How One South African Community Stopped Shell Oil in Its Tracks
-
ANALYSIS
Will New Leader End Progress in Saving Indonesia’s Forests?
-
Oceans
Dire Straits: Can a Fishing Ban Save the Elusive European Eel?
-
Climate
Scientists Are Trying to Coax the Ocean to Absorb More CO2
-
INTERVIEW
Marina Silva on Brazil’s Fight to Turn the Tide on Deforestation
-
Solutions
Solomon Islands Tribes Sell Carbon Credits, Not Their Trees
-
INTERVIEW
With Sea Turtles in Peril, a Call for New Strategies to Save Them
-
RIVERS
Jared Kushner Has Big Plans for Delta of Europe’s Last Wild River
-
Energy
A Nuclear Power Revival Is Sparking a Surge in Uranium Mining
-
OPINION
Despite Official Vote, the Evidence of the Anthropocene Is Clear
-
INTERVIEW
At 11,500 Feet, a ‘Climate Fast’ to Save the Melting Himalaya
-
Oceans
Octopuses Are Highly Intelligent. Should They Be Farmed for Food?