Environmental Equity
Everyone gets the same thing.
It assumes everyone starts from the same place.
Focus: sameness.
What is equality?
This field of study examines how environmental factors can turn genes “on” or “off” without changing the DNA sequence itself.
What is epigenetics?
This type of ozone is found in the lower atmosphere and can harm human health, unlike the “good” ozone in the stratosphere.
What is ground-level ozone?
As of recent global estimates, about 3.4 billion people still lack safely managed versions of this essential service.
What is sanitation?
This term describes large, circular ocean currents that move water and debris across the seas.
What is a gyre?
People get what they need to be successful.
It recognizes that people start from different circumstances.
Focus: fairness.
What is equity
This term refers to any substance or exposure that can cause cancer.
What is a carcinogen?
This fine particulate matter, often called soot, is released from burning fossil fuels, wood, and other biomass.
What is black carbon?
On average, children under five are over 20 times more likely to die from illnesses linked to this than from armed conflict.
What is unsafe water?
Gyres are notorious for concentrating this type of pollution, forming massive “garbage patches” in the ocean.
What is plastic?
This discriminatory housing practice involved banks and lenders refusing loans in neighborhoods labeled as “high risk,” often based on race.
What is redlining?
This term refers to any substance or exposure that can cause birth defects during pregnancy.
What is a teratogen?
PM2.5 is a key contributor to this type of air pollution that reduces visibility and can harm ecosystems.
What is smog?
This physician is considered one of the founders of modern epidemiology for tracing a cholera outbreak in London in 1854.
Who is John Snow?
This process occurs when toxins build up in an individual organism over time, often in fatty tissues.
What is bioaccumulation?
This Louisiana region along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans is nicknamed for its high concentration of petrochemical plants and elevated cancer risk.
What is Cancer Alley?
This foundational principle of toxicology suggests that any substance can be harmful if taken in a high enough amount.
What is “the dose makes the poison”?
Tailpipe emissions from cars, trucks, and buses are a major human-made source of this type of fine particulate matter.
What is PM2.5?
This type of water comes from rivers, lakes, and reservoirs, as opposed to underground sources.
What is surface water?
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a massive accumulation of plastic in the North Pacific Gyre, is estimated to be about three times the size of this U.S. state.
What is Texas?
These are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age that affect health outcomes.
What are social determinants of health?
This Latin term means “in glass” and refers to experiments conducted outside a living organism, often in a petri dish or test tube.
What is in vitro?
This 1970 U.S. law is the primary federal legislation regulating air pollution to protect public health and the environment.
What is the Clean Air Act?
This type of water is found underground in aquifers and wells.
What is groundwater?
A factory releases mercury into a river. Tiny organisms absorb it, small fish eat them, and larger fish eat the small fish. This illustrates this concept.
What is biomagnification?