Impact of environmental health racism on East Harlem community neighbourhood- Anti racism environmental justice scholars program

Title : Impact of environmental health racism on East Harlem community neighbourhood- Anti racism environmental justice scholars program

Abstract:

Background: Environmental racism has impacted communities of color for decades. Environmental hazards like land or noise pollution, climate change, and heavy metal exposures have stripped the communities of the privilege of their essential needs. According to the New York City Environmental Health Data (2020), East Harlem is poorly impacted by asthma and other environmental health conditions. The Anti-Racism Environmental Justice Project Scholars Program was designed to address environmental racism through community awareness and a needs assessment approach. The project highlights the top environmental health concerns facing East Harlem community residents and the methods utilized to promote environmental justice.

Method: Our approach involved the active participation of about 185 residents in the East Harlem neighborhood through community engagement events. We collaborated with the community in health and resource fairs between September 2023 and April 2024. The AREJ Project was initiated in two processes, with the community playing a crucial role. First, we shared credible resources on environmental health hazards (prescriptions) and raised awareness through community advocacy (needs assessment board). Prescriptions and needs assessment board results demonstrate the need for public health intervention to address environmental racism in the community.

Results: 215 East Harlem community residents courageously shared their experiences of living with environmental hazards. The most prevalent environmental health concern reported was the need for safer pest control in their homes and the community (n=38, 20%). The second most common environmental health concern reported was roaches (n=32, 17%). About 185 East Harlem residents reported that crime (n=18, 10%), cockroaches (n=17, 9%), and affordable housing(n=16,8%) are the East Harlem neighborhood's top three environmental health concerns due to environmental racism and injustice, highlighting the urgent need for public health efforts.

Conclusion: Over the years, environmental racism has affected global communities. The East Harlem population faces various environmental health concerns, such as affordable housing, crime, pest issues, and other health-related concerns. The reported health concerns highlighted by community residents indicate the impact of environmental injustice and racism. Addressing these issues in collaboration with policymakers and stakeholders will decrease the impact of environmental racism in the East Harlem community. There is room to improve the impact of environmental injustice in the community through mass educational awareness of health-related and social issues.

Audience Take Away:

At the end of this presentation, the audience will be able to learn the following: 

• Understand the importance of individual-level health-related awareness and community-level health-related concerns. 
• Importance of environmental and social justice at a community level. 
• Public health professionals can utilize the understanding of environmental and social justice to promote community and wellness. 
• The research findings help promote environmental health and social justice at the local and global levels. 

Biography:

Laraib Saleem is a Certified Public Health Professional, and a Public Health Educator at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Bureau of Environmental Disease and Injury Prevention. He is also a part of Anti-Racism Environmental Justice program at the Mount Sinai, Department of Environmental Health and Medicine to promote community advocacy on environmental and social justice among underserved communities of East Harlem Neighborhood. He worked on different global public health research projects during his academic and professional experience.  He was a former Asthma/COPD Community Health Liaison at the New York City Health and Hospitals. He had received his Masters in Public Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in Environmental Health Science and Medicine specialization in 2023. He is a Sustaining/Emerging Professional Member of American Public Health Association, National Environmental Health Association, and New York State Public Health Association. Laraib’s Masters research manuscript on a cross-sectional study of areca nut consumption and self-reported oral cancers conducted in Karachi, Pakistan between 2020 to 2021, has motivated the underserved communities from local to global on the importance of social determinants of health, one health and basic human rights.