Environmental Health Report Card for Northern Manhattan: Rating the Environment Where We Live, Work, & Play
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WE ACT FOR ENVIRONMENtaL JUSTICE ENVIRONMENtaL HEALTH REPORT CARD FOR NORTHERN MANhattaN: RatING THE ENVIRONMENT WHERE WE LIVE, WORK, & PLAY 1 Contents 3 Acknowledgments Grades at a Glance 4 e would like to thank every- Community Health Snapshot Wone who contributed to the development of this report. Without 5 your guidance and dedication to en- How We Assigned Grades vironmental public health, this semi- nal document would not have been 6 possible. Specifically, we would like Environmental Health Grades to thank Derval Thomas (EPA pro- gram officer), WE ACT Staff, North- 6 ern Manhattan CARE Collaborative Indoor Air Quality members, WE ACT Environmental Health Interns, and the many resi- 7 dents that participated in any and all Lead Poisoning of WE ACT’s activities since 1988. 8 This report card was completed Pests & Pesticides with funding from the United States Environmental Protection Agency 9 CARE Program. Solid Waste This report was written, edited and 10 prepared by WE ACT staff members Outdoor Air Quality Ogonnaya Dotson-Newman, Anhthu Hoang & Peggy Shepard. 11 Access to Healthy Food 12 Drinking Water Quality WE ACT for Environmental Justice 1854 Amsterdam Avenue, 2nd Floor 12 New York, NY 10031 Recreational Water Quality (212) 961-1000 13 Open Space Graphic Design: Ed Towles 14 Cover credits: Eric Canales, Jubei Raziel, Charles Santos References Printed on recycled paper 2 Grades at a Glance What do the two grades mean? The Grade (Public Data) was developed using environmental health data from the city and state. The Community Grade was developed using the risk ranking process done by community members through the Northern Manhattan CARE Collaborative. Environmental GRADE COMMUNITY Health Issue (Public data) GRADE Indoor Air Quality C C Lead Poisoning C C Pests & Pesticides C C Solid Waste B C Outdoor Air Quality C C Access to Healthy Food C C Drinking Water Quality A C Recreational Water Quality C C Open Space C C 3 Community Health Snapshot The race/ethnicity and population data that appear for West and Figure 1. Central Harlem may seem incorrect u but it is compiled directly from Northern census and United Hospital Fund – Neighborhood data that combine Manhattan data for West and Central Harlem into one neighborhood. u Washington Heights/Inwood1 Population 270,700 Poverty 31% Race/Ethnicity 14% Black & WEST HARLEM 71% Hispanic x Psychological 1 in 20 Distress (adult) v Infant Mortality (per 1000 live 6 births) Obesity (adult) 21% Asthma (child) 5 per 1000 Lead Poisoning 9 new cases (child) w Created by Carlos M. Jusino1-4 v w x West Harlem2 East Harlem3 Central Harlem4 Population 111,724 Population 108,100 Population 151,100 Poverty 35% Poverty 38% Poverty 35% Black 67% & Race/Ethnicity Race/Ethnicity 33% Black & Race/Ethnicity 67% Black & Hispanic 19% 55% Hispanic 19% Hispanic Psychological Psychological 1 in 20 Psychological 1 in 12 Distress (adult) Distress (adult) 1 in 12 Distress (adult) Infant Mortality Infant Mortality Infant Mortality (per 1000 7 (per 1000 live 8 (per 1000 live 7 live births) births) births) Obesity (adult) 27% Obesity (adults) 31% Obesity (adult) 27% Asthma (child) 13 per 1000 Asthma (child) 12 per 1000 Asthma (child) 13 per 1000 Lead Poisoning Lead Poisoning 11 new cases Lead Poisoning 10 new cases 11 new cases (child) (child) (child) 44 How We Assigned Grades What is an Environmental environmental health explains how Grading health report card? human well-being System An environmental health re- port card is an assessment of is connected to the a community’s environmental environment. WE ACT conditions given the existing defines “environment” health conditions. as where we live, A Why do we need an work, play and pray. Excellent environmental health report card? WE ACT’s Environmental health indicators are better than Advocates and residents agree – information connecting or the same as citywide our health and the state of our environment is difficult to performance and policies are in find. Government and private sector data sometimes con- place to address inequalities. flict with our experience on the ground. WE ACT created this report card to provide a more inclusive evaluation of Northern Manhattan’s environmental health status in order to reconcile disagreement between different sources. How did we grade each environmental B health issue? We chose to look at environmental health indicators from Satisfactory a variety of sources. These sources included statistics WE ACT’s Environmental health from government agencies and advocacy groups. We then indicators are slightly below contrasted Northern Manhattan’s performance on these citywide performance and indicators against all of NYC. We also researched govern- policies are in place but are ment policies (and actions under consideration) that would not implemented to address affect specific indicators. We assigned a letter grade to each inequalities. identified environmental concern based on environmental statistics, related health impact and current policies. When the data showed a high impact on a community (disparity), we identify policies and practices that would reduce the impact. Please visit www.weact.org for an expanded discus- C sion of risks and strategies for avoiding them. Needs Improvement Environmental health indicator is a meas- WE ACT’s Environmental health indicators are well below ure of a current environmental conditions and its citywide performance and impact on human health; this could include informa- no policy to address inequalities exist. tion relating to social, economic, and racial makeup of a community. 5 Indoor Air Quality e spend more than 90% of our time indoors (e.g., GRADE COMMUNITY Wour homes, workplaces, schools, churches, etc.). Although we would all like to think that our homes and (Public data) GRADE schools are safe, indoor hazards could affect the health of our lungs and reproductive systems, and even cause cancer. C C EH Indicator Housing Conditions – Northern Manhattan’s old, dilapidated housing stock promotes mold, contains lead- Smoking Status 17—27 % of based paint, and holds a host of other hazards including Percentage of adults smokers1—4 asbestos. These and other potential, yet undiscovered, hazards make our aging housing an important environ- Housing Stock 48 % of mental health indicator. Built before housing 19501-4 Mold – Mold can increase the number of asthma attacks you get, allergies, headaches, and could disrupt brain Number of Mold 21,121 function. Northern Manhattan has one of the highest Complaints8 rates of mold complaints in the City – and the problem is growing. Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) – We used smoking status as an indicator for ex- posure to ETS. Smoking poses a special danger in our community because while we have fewer resources to stop once we start smoking, we are also targets of tobacco company advertising. The many chemicals in ETS can cause a variety of negative health effects like allergies, skin irrita- tion, difficulty breathing and development of a child. Take Action for Clean Indoor Air Quality Read labels of household products & personal care products • Avoid products that contain chemicals like phthalates & Bisphenol A (BPA). Visit www.weact.org for more information about least toxic alternatives Call for OUR elected officials to support strong policies to protect residents from indoor hazards • Better enforcement of health & housing codes • Focus enforcement on protecting vulnerable communities • Prohibit use of toxins in toys & children’s products For more information on Indoor Air Quality visit www.weact.org/healthyindoorenvironments 6 Lead Poisoning GRADE COMMUNITY (Public data) GRADE espite progress in reducing the number of new lead Dpoisoning cases, lead exposure remains an environ- C C mental health hazard in low-income neighborhoods and immigrant communities. In fact, 33% of the newly identi- EH Indicator fied lead poisoning cases involve children who live below the poverty line – most of whom are children of color. Rate of newly 9—11 per Sources of lead poisoning include water from old pipes, identified 1,000 children lead poisoned tested peeling and chipping paint in housing built before 1978, 1-4 children’s toys, turf fields, some brightly colored paint children and food products, exposures in the work place, jewelry, personal care products, and soil.11-12 Take Action to Eliminate Lead Poisoning Ask the US Centers for Disease Contact OUR local & federal Control and Prevention to: authorities to: • Increase blood lead level (BLL) testing • Increase lead remediation funding in children and start an intervention on • Couple remediation with education BLL at 5µg/dL • Focus enforcement in vulnerable • Improve enforcement of lead communities poisoning prevention rules Be Lead S.A.F.E. • If you have a child under the age of 6 get him tested and keep a record of their testing Table 1 Childhood Lead Poisoning 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 New cases of child lead poisoning 0 East Harlem Washington Central West Harlem Manhattan Heights/Inwood Harlem Source: NYC DOHMH For more information on Lead Poisoning visit www.weact.org/healthyindoorenvironments 7 Pests & Pesticides GRADE COMMUNITY (Public data) GRADE YC accounts for 13% (by weight) of the pesticides Nused in New York State, even though it comprises less than 1% of the state’s land area. Northern Manhat- C C tan’s high density, dilapidated housing stock and aging EH Indicator infrastructure result in some of the highest rates of households with rat, mouse and cockroach sitings as Percent of house-