In addition to advising on specific topical priorities, CAC members have also advised us on a set of priority research methods. Utilizing these research methods in any of the proposed research focus areas is of particular interest.
Health Equity Risk Assessments
The key question the public has around many environmental exposures is, “Should I be concerned about this?” Comprehensive Human Health Risk Assessment is a multi-step process involving hazard identification, dose-response measurement of effects, exposure assessment, and risk characterization, which can inform decision-making to control or otherwise respond to exposures to environmental hazards. The work requires multidisciplinary teams and can be applied to a wide range of environmental health concerns. CAC members are particularly interested in seeing Human Health Risk Assessments that take into account health disparities and social determinants of health.
Open access data sources and computational toxicology tools are available to expedite this process, including:
- CompTox Chemicals Dashboard (epa.gov)
- OEHHA Chemical Database: Chemicals - OEHHA
- DPR Pesticide Databases: Department of Pesticide Regulation Databases (ca.gov)
- PubChem Chemicals Database: PubChem (nih.gov)
- US EPA Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program: Endocrine Disruption | US EPA
- Integrated Chemical Environment Computational Toxicology Tools: Integrated Chemical Environment (ICE) (nih.gov)
True Cost Accounting
True Cost Accounting is a methodology often used in sustainable agriculture to take into account the externalities associated with growing food. CAC members are interested in collaborating on research that incorporates a similar approach to health economics and accounts for the true costs of pollution and other environmental hazards. They have specifically asked for EHSC to build relationships with more UC Davis health economists.
Policy Impact Assessment
For many of our CAC members, the primary public health intervention that they are engaged in is policy change. Across all topic areas, there is significant interest in environmental health research that assesses the health impacts of environmental health policy interventions (i.e. changes to public rules and regulations). There is also interest in examining the public health impacts of environmental, land use, or other types of policies that do not have direct public health goals, but which have the potential to influence public health through their environmental impact.
This type of research could include analysis of changes to exposure levels and/or health outcomes associated with policy implementation, examination of the health impact of specific mechanisms of implementation, and/or assess the health impacts of compliance – the degree to which existing health protective policies are being followed/enforced.
Life Cycle Assessment
A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a method for accounting for costs and benefits along a product's life cycle. Depending on the goals of the assessment, a wide range of costs and benefits can be considered, including positive and negative human health impacts. Human health impact assessment is most commonly addressed in a type of LCA called a Social Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA, 10,11,12), which considers the social aspects of a product's life cycle. Environmental injustice and other health disparities can also be included in a SLCA.
Health Equity Data Visualization Tools
Health equity data visualization tools use indicators of exposure and vulnerability to identify geographic locations where communities are at disproportionate risk of environmental health impacts. These are designed to be used by policymakers, community organizations, and researchers to set priorities and allocate resources.
In California, these include CalEnviroScreen 4.0, Climate Change and Health Vulnerability Indicators for California (CCHVIz), the California Healthy Places Index (HPI), the Human Right to Water Portal , EJScreen (national), and a tool currently in development analyzing toxic facilities by the Department of Toxic Substances Control (see SB 673 Cumulative Impacts and Community Vulnerability Regulatory Framework, 2021 ).
These tools provide valuable data for environmental justice advocates, policy makers, and regulatory agencies to help ensure that the health of communities at highest risk of harm is protected and prioritized. CAC members are interested in research that utilizes these (or similar) tools or investigates the efficacy/impact of these tools in influencing budgeting, land use, and permitting decisions in ways that improve environmental and public health.
Exposomics
The exposome is defined as " the measure of all the exposures of an individual in a lifetime and how those exposures relate to health ." CAC members have expressed the desire to see more research that looks at complex mixtures and cumulative exposures, particularly in communities facing high environmental burdens. Exposomics is an emerging field that may offer insights into these more complex questions.
References and Additional Reading
- Environmental Protection Agency: Human Health Risk Assessment Section
- Environmental Protection Agency's CompTox Chemicals Dashboard
- California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment's Chemical Database
- California Department of Pesticide Regulation's Pesticide Database
- National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine: PubChem Chemicals Database
- Environmental Protection Agency's Endocrine Disruption Homepage
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' National Toxicology Program: Integrated Chemical Environment (ICE) Homepage
- Delft University of Technology: Sustainability Impact Metrics: True Cost Accounting Homepage
- Rochester Institute of Technology's Golisano Institute for Sustainability Blog: What is life cycle assessment (LCA)? (2020)
- United Nations Environment Programme's Guidelines for Social Life Cycle Assessment of Products (2009)
- United Nations Environment Programme's Methodological Sheets for Sub-categories in Social Life Cycle Assessments (S-LCA) (2013)
- The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment: A method for human health impact assessment in social LCA: lessons from three case studies (2018)
- The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability: Environmental justice along product life cycles: importance, renewable energy examples and policy complexities (2017)
- California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment's Draft CalEnviroScreen 4.0 (2021)
- California Department of Public Health: Climate Change and Health Vulnerability Indicators for California
- California Healthy Places Index Homepage
- California Water Boards' Human Right to Water Portal: Hr2w Homepage
- Environmental Protection Agency's EJScreen: Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool
- California Department of Toxic Substances Control and California Environmental Protection Agency's Revised Draft of SB 673 Cumulative Impacts and Community Vulnerability Draft Regulatory Framework (2021)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Exposome and Exposomics