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San
Diego Environmental Health Coalition
Background: Latinas and EHC Promote Environmental Justice Environmental Health Coalition (EHC) has been working with residents in the neighborhoods of Barrio Logan, Sherman Heights, Logan Heights and National City since 1980. During this time, community members shared concerns about the high rates of asthma in the neighborhoods and their relation to environmental pollutants and poor air quality. Residents were also worried about the proximity of the naval shipyard and several polluting small businesses in the area ? such as a metal plating shop. In 1995 EHC embarked on an environmental justice and health project for women, which led to the formation of SALTA (Salud Ambiental, Latinas Tomando Accion) which means œleap? in Spanish. The 200 or so participants in SALTA are called promotoras (roughly ? leader or trainer in English). The promotora model builds on the cultural phenomenon in the Latino community of women forming information and assistance networks. The SALTA project educates promotoras to make individual behavior changes, such as reducing home use of toxic pesticides, while teaching them to identify industrial sources of pollution and the government agencies that regulate them. In
1997, EHC hired five of the promotoras on a part-time basis
to continue organizing in their communities. These organizers
conducted the health survey that is the subject of this case
study. The Project: Promotoras Design and Conduct a Health Survey The five promotoras who conducted the surveys were trained in surveying techniques and methods. Each of these women interviewed about 40 women from among her friends and neighbors, a number of whom had also been SALTA participants. All respondents were Spanish-speaking, Latina women with children, many of whom had some knowledge of EHC?s work in the community. In total, the surveyors conducted face-to-face interviews with 188 women in the four target communities during May and June of 1997. Each woman was asked a standard set of questions about her health and that of her spouse, children, and other family members living in the home during the previous six months. Each woman was also asked several questions regarding her reproductive history and health. The survey does not aim to establish causal links but rather suggests associations between exposure to toxic chemicals and adverse health effects. Before the survey project was initiated, a pilot study was conducted in another community, Chula Vista. These surveys, along with those of 10 families whose residences were beyond the boundaries of the four neighborhoods in the project, were used as the control group for the larger survey. Although the control group is small and the survey is not attempting to present a case-control study, it is nevertheless useful to compare the survey group with a similar group outside the survey?s geographic boundaries. The control families were similar to the survey families in many respects, but the ambient air quality in Chula Vista is generally considered better than many areas of the county. The questionnaire was developed by a survey team comprised of community members, EHC staff, and health professionals. The team included Shanna Holland, a graduate student in public health and social work at San Diego State University; Luz Palomino, one of the surveyors; Maria Miramontes, a community resident and SALTA promotora; Maria Moya, the SALTA Project Director; Joy Williams, EHC's Community Assistance Director; Diane Takvorian, EHC?s Executive Director; Dr. Ruth Heifetz, a physician specialist in occupational and environmental health; and Beatriz Barraza-Roppe, a health educator with expertise in the Latina peer education model. Dr. Anthony Horner of University of California, San Diego (UCSD) also assisted with questions on asthma symptoms. Survey Documents Several Health Problems The full results and survey questions are available in the report available on the EHC website (see address below under œcontacts and more information?). The key findings of the survey were the following:
Taking Action: Polluting Metal-Plating Plant Closed Down Largely due to the efforts of the Barrio Logan community, EHC and, in part, the health survey results, in late 2002, the owner of a Barrio Logan metal-plating plant (Master Plating) agreed to shut down his business, ending a fight with neighbors and health officials who said the plant was releasing dangerous toxins and endangering public health. As part of the agreement reached between the county and the owner, the owner will remove and properly dispose of all hazardous wastes and materials and will decontaminate and remove equipment and fixtures at the plant. The plant has been operating in Barrio Logan since November 1986, doing chrome, nickel and copper plating. The company had been cited several times for violating laws regarding storage and disposal of hazardous materials. In February 2002, county officials announced they had found high levels of a cancer-causing chemical called chromium 6 in the neighborhood. The residents of Barrio Logan are concerned about the possibility of another metal plating shop moving into the same shop to potentially start the problems all over again. However, an emergency ordinance to keep metal-plating businesses from the site is being proposed, and the city is looking at the zoning ordinances in the area to address the problem of having light industrial uses next to homes. Reflections: Pros and Cons of the Study Design The strength of the study was undoubtedly the extensive participation and leadership from women of the surveyed communities. Because interviewees were familiar with the work of EHC and of the promotoras, the answers they provided were candid, more informative than responses that might have been given to strangers, and reflected shared knowledge and personal interactions. The potential weaknesses of the study result from not employing some components of standard survey methods. The survey did not study a randomized survey population or a large control or sample population. The lack of a randomized survey population, and the small size of the control and sample groups may detract from the validity of the survey as an objective study. While these methods would likely be considered inadequate in academic research circles, many communities find them extremely useful, since such studies can provide the kind of information community organizers want to know. In this case, study results were sufficient to create change and to suggest that more in-depth studies would produce similar data. Depending on resources and their informational needs, communities often combine aspects of academic research with more informal study methods. This combination can be powerful in raising public awareness, leveraging campaigns and speaking to the reality of the community experience. Both community organizers and residents were empowered by this opportunity to corroborate the anecdotal health concerns expressed by friends and neighbors with quantifiable data. Sharing their family health histories with caring and trusted members of the community gave the survey participants confidence that the information would not fall on deaf ears. While the survey participants are not representative of the entire community, they are probably healthier than a random sample of residents would be. Those surveyed were mothers of intact families with relatively young, employed adults and school-age children, along with some extended family members. Many have lived in the community for several years. Not included in the survey were young, unmarried mothers, elderly people living alone, women too isolated or sick to have participated in SALTA, homeless residents of the community, and very recent immigrants. If anything, this survey probably presents a rosier health picture than is the reality among all residents of the community. Contacts and More Information Clarice Gaylord of the EPA at (619) 235-4767 Diane
Takvorian, Executive Director of the Environmental
Health Coalition at (619) 235-0281. Primary author at EHC was
Joy Williams Full
survey results available as well:
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Coming Clean ? PO Box 8743 ? Missoula, MT 59807 ? info@come-clean.org |
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Survey children reported nearly twice the number of symptoms
of respiratory illness than the control group. 
