Partnerships for Environmental Public Health (PEPH) Newsletter by NIEHS
Volume 11, Issue 8: September 2020
A new interactive story map developed by NIEHS-funded researchers sheds light on how certain Los Angeles communities are faring in the COVID-19 pandemic. By combining Census Bureau data and measures of pollution burden and population vulnerability, the tool visualizes the overlap between COVID-19 and environmental health factors. Picturing these relationships is an important step in fully understanding and eliminating health disparities.
The map was developed by researchers at the Maternal and Developmental Risks from Environmental and Social Stressors (MADRES) Center for Environmental Health Disparities, which studies how health disparities, chemical exposures, and social stressors affect pregnant women and their infants. The new map, along with downloadable and easy-to-understand infographics, are part of the MADRES Center’s efforts to improve environmental health literacy in communities that experience health disparities. Their ultimate goal is to translate findings into individual- and policy-level solutions to reduce or eliminate environmental health disparities.
The mapping effort was led by Rima Habre, Sc.D., an environmental health researcher at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine and director of the MADRES Center’s Exposure Core.