Something in the Air: Pollution in and Around Prisons in the United States

• In Event: Spatial Distribution of Environmental Harms

Abstract

Each year billions of pounds of toxic chemicals are released into the air, land and waterways of the United States. Exposure to chemical waste and its attendant health effects are not equally distributed across the United States, however. Individuals who fall victim to high exposure levels tend to be of low socioeconomic status and cannot afford to relocate to less polluted areas. Incarcerated individuals constitute another group which lacks the agency to relocate. Exposure to toxic chemicals for a group of individuals with no agency to relocate may constitute a collateral consequence of mass incarceration that has received little scholarly attention to date. Yet, such studies branch traditional penal research with environmental justice scholarship and constitute a critical step in broadening our understanding of the wide-reaching effects of imprisonment. The aim of the current study is to examine the relationship between environmental toxins and prisons at a nationwide level. The data utilized for this study come from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Survey of Prison Inmates (2016). Initial results suggest that prisons across the nation tend to be in areas with high levels of environmental toxins.

Authors

• Elisa Toman, Sam Houston State University

• Amanda Rude, Sam