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Toxic chemicals linked to lower egg counts in women

Birth rates are decreasing worldwide. In all European countries they’re even dropping below population replacement levels, which refers to the number of children needed per woman to keep a population stable. While these decreases might be due to many adults intentionally postponing when they have their first child – or actively choosing not to have children – an increasing number of studies suggests these don’t fully explain decreasing birth rates. Some research also indicates that decreasing fertility is a major contributing factor in this decline.
One factor linked to decreased fertility is the presence of industrial chemicals found in our environment. Much is known about the impact of these chemicals on male fertility, but little research has looked into how they affect women. This is what our recent study sought to do.
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Photo Credit: Peakstock/Shutterstock

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How electric cars can advance environmental justice: By putting low-income and racially diverse drivers behind the wheel

The global auto industry has begun a historic shift from gasoline- and diesel-fueled cars to electric vehicles. President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan seeks to speed up this transition by requesting billions of dollars to modernize the electric grid and build 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations.
Evidence shows that many Americans are eager to transition to EVs and participate in a clean energy economy. In a recent nationally representative consumer survey, 71% of drivers surveyed said they were interested in getting an electric car. But 48% said that lack of access to public charging infrastructure was holding them back, and 43% cited vehicle cost as a disincentive.
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Photo Credit: Eric Risberg/AP Photo
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Environmental Justice is Racial Justice

By: Anabelle Farnham, Communications Intern
Just over one week ago, on May 25th, activists gathered to mark the anniversary of George Floyd’s death, which was the spark for powerful anti-racist protests and calls to action across the country in 2020. The same day this year was marked by gatherings, marches, and celebrations of life to honor him and the fight for Racial Equality that his death has come to symbolize.
As an intern with the Center for Health, Environment and Justice (CHEJ), Racial Justice and Equality are some things that I am challenged to think about every day, as it is inherently intertwined with the work we do for Environmental Justice and Equality. It is no secret that communities affected by pollution have greater health risks from their environment and are disproportionately constituted by lower-wealth and minority individuals. Studies estimate that on average, communities who live within 1 km (1 miles equals approximately 1.60934 km) of toxic waste facilities in the United States are majority people of color, with 20% being African-American. In contrast, communities living further than 5km away from toxic waste facilities are estimated to be only 8% African-American. In 2007, it was estimated that 1.8 million African-Americans lived in a neighborhood near one or more of the over 400 identified commercial hazardous waste facilities in the United States.
Not only are the current statistics of who is at risk from their environment skewed, but the history of Superfund clean-ups comes with its own biases, as well. As of 2021, the EPA has been working on Superfund clean-ups for over 40 years, and in the first decades of this work, particularly the 1980s, the sites with greater media coverage and urgency to clean up were often in communities with highly educated populations. This left many sites in majority African-American, low wealth, and urban neighborhoods ignored and without the attention or funding needed to clean up their toxic pollution environments. Since the first decades of Superfund, this disproportionate treatment has subsided, or ceased all together.  However, the issues for people of color and low wealth individuals living near toxic contamination remains potent and has not changed.
Racial Justice and Equality, in the context of Superfund, doesn’t stop when the sites have been cleaned up. It is still imperative that as these neighborhoods become livable they continue to be homes to those communities who have fought for their clean-ups in the first place. This means continuing to maintain affordable housing and taking additional measures that prevent gentrification, so that communities are not pushed from one environmentally damaged site to yet another environmentally damaged site. This is why the work that CHEJ is committed to remains important. Our work empowers local communities to have a voice at every step in the process, which is key in not only cleaning up Superfund sites, but other contaminated sites throughout the country.
As CHEJ celebrates 40 years of fighting for Environmental Justice and Equality, it is a poignant opportunity to reflect on what this justice encompasses. Not only is our focus on achieving a clean environment and eliminating threats to our health, it is also inextricably tied to Racial Justice and Equality for those disproportionately bearing the burden of pollution and toxic exposure in this country.  For more information on the intersections between how communities are affected by these injustices, and how to fight to win, please visit chej.org/organizing-and-leadership/.
Photo Credit: Gabriele Holtermann

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From pollution to policing, this Asian-American group is expanding environmental justice in the Bay Area

Sandy Saeteurn grew up in Richmond, California, where Chevron’s massive 3,000-acre oil refinery reigns supreme. She’s no stranger to the refinery’s chemical flares, and she spent many of her childhood days home sick. She’s not the only one who has learned to link the refinery and the presence of illness in her community: A 2008 study (co-authored by Grist board member Rachel Morello-Frosch) found that almost half of all homes in the area had indoor levels of refinery-related particulate matter pollution that exceeded the state’s air quality standards.
Every day for nearly 120 years — longer than the city has existed — the refinery has processed thousands of barrels of oil. Its flares regularly paint the sky burnt orange before thick grey clouds of smoke cover the city. Chevron’s influence stretches beyond its pollution and the 3,500 refinery jobs it provides as the city’s largest employer — it also showers money on local elections and even runs a local newspaper, the Richmond Standard, which has been known to cast a positive light on the company.
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Photo Credit: Asian Pacific Environmental Network