Skip to main content

Environmental justice and policy research

Top left to right: © aquatarkus / stock.adobe.com, © narongcp / Fotolia, © olando / stock.adobe.com. Bottom left to right: © sushytska / stock.adobe.com, © Turbowerner / stock.adobe.com, © borgogniels / Getty Images / iStock

Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of ethnicity, color, national origin, social status or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. The goal is for everyone to have the same degree of protection from health hazards in the environment, as well as equal access to the decision-making processes that contribute to a healthy living environment.

This collection calls for papers from a broad range of subject areas that shed light on the contribution that evidence-based research can give to develop better practices and policies towards stronger environmental justice. Articles may include, but are not limited to, research about air pollution, sewage management, water systems management, drinking water quality, pesticides and much more. 

The following journals are accepting submissions to the series:


Submission Instructions

Manuscripts should be formatted according to the individual journal’s instructions for authors and submitted via the online submission system. Please indicate clearly in the title page that the manuscript is to be considered for the thematic series 'Environmental Justice and policy research'. Manuscripts will be peer-reviewed independently by the respective journal, in accordance with each journal’s peer-review policy. Accepted articles will be published online on a continuous basis.

Submission deadline: November 30th 2021

Published articles in this collection:

  1. Under globalization, human settlement has become a major risk factor affecting life. The relationship between humans and the environment is crucial for improving community resilience and coping with globalizat...

    Authors: Qikang Zhong, Yue Chen and Jiale Yan
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2023 19:87
    Content type: Research Published on:

  2. Environmental exposures such as traffic may contribute to asthma morbidity including recurrent emergency department (ED) visits. However, these associations are often confounded by socioeconomic status and hea...

    Authors: Tabassum Zarina Insaf, Temilayo Adeyeye, Catherine Adler, Victoria Wagner, Anisa Proj, Susan McCauley and Jacqueline Matson
    Citation: Environmental Health 2022 21:73
    Content type: Research Published on:

  3. Most U.S. studies that report racial/ethnic disparities in increased risk of low birth weight associated with air pollution exposures have been conducted in California or northeastern states and/or urban areas...

    Authors: Devon C. Payne-Sturges, Robin Puett and Deborah A. Cory-Slechta
    Citation: Environmental Health 2022 21:47
    Content type: Research Published on:

  4. Epistemological biases in environmental epidemiology prevent the full understanding of how racism’s societal impacts directly influence health outcomes. With the ability to focus on “place” and the totality of...

    Authors: Melissa J. Perry, Suzanne Arrington, Marlaina S. Freisthler, Ifeoma N. Ibe, Nathan L. McCray, Laura M. Neumann, Patrick Tajanlangit and Brenda M. Trejo Rosas
    Citation: Environmental Health 2021 20:119
    Content type: Commentary Published on:

  5. Toxic chemicals — “toxicants” — have been studied and regulated as single entities, and, carcinogens aside, almost all toxicants, single or mixed and however altered, have been thought harmless in very low dos...

    Authors: Robert Hunt Sprinkle and Devon C. Payne-Sturges
    Citation: Environmental Health 2021 20:104
    Content type: Commentary Published on:

  6. Pesticides can have negative effects on human and environmental health, especially when not handled as intended. In many countries, agro-input dealers sell pesticides to smallholder farmers and are supposed to...

    Authors: Philipp Staudacher, Curdin Brugger, Mirko S. Winkler, Christian Stamm, Andrea Farnham, Ruth Mubeezi, Rik I. L. Eggen and Isabel Günther
    Citation: Environmental Health 2021 20:100
    Content type: Research Published on:

  7. At a regional or continental scale, the characterization of environmental health inequities (EHI) expresses the idea that populations are not equal in the face of pollution. It implies an analysis be conducted...

    Authors: Julien CAUDEVILLE, Corentin REGRAIN, Frederic TOGNET, Roseline BONNARD, Mohammed GUEDDA, Celine BROCHOT, Maxime BEAUCHAMP, Laurent LETINOIS, Laure MALHERBE, Fabrice MARLIERE, Francois LESTREMAU, Karen CHARDON, Veronique BACH and Florence Anna ZEMAN
    Citation: Environmental Health 2021 20:58
    Content type: Methodology Published on:

  8. Asian/Pacific Islander (API) communities in the United States often reside in metropolitan areas with distinct social and environmental attributes. Residence in an ethnic enclave, a socially distinct area, is ...

    Authors: Andrew D. Williams, Sandie Ha, Edmond Shenassa, Lynne C. Messer, Jenna Kanner and Pauline Mendola
    Citation: Environmental Health 2021 20:56
    Content type: Research Published on:

  9. This paper explores strategies to engage community stakeholders in efforts to address the effects of traffic-related air pollution (TRAP). Communities of color and low-income communities are disproportionately...

    Authors: Linda Sprague Martinez, Noelle Dimitri, Sharon Ron, Neelakshi Hudda, Wig Zamore, Lydia Lowe, Ben Echevarria, John L. Durant, Doug Brugge and Ellin Reisner
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2020 20:1690
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  10. Various maternal conditions, especially in utero conditions and prenatal exposure to environments with air pollution and greenness, have been reviewed to address the enhancement and prevention of susceptibilit...

    Authors: Kyung Ju Lee, Hyemi Moon, Hyo Ri Yun, Eun Lyeong Park, Ae Ran Park, Hijeong Choi, Kwan Hong and Juneyoung Lee
    Citation: Environmental Health 2020 19:91
    Content type: Review Published on:

  11. The petrochemical industry is a major source of hazardous and toxic air pollutants that are recognised to have mutagenic and carcinogenic properties. A wealth of occupational epidemiology literature exists aro...

    Authors: Calvin Jephcote, David Brown, Thomas Verbeek and Alice Mah
    Citation: Environmental Health 2020 19:53
    Content type: Research Published on:

  12. Air pollution and pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) are still serious worldwide problems, especially in areas of developing countries. Whether there is an association between high ambient air pollutant concentratio...

    Authors: Fuqiang Liu, Zhixia Zhang, Hongying Chen and Shaofa Nie
    Citation: Environmental Health 2020 19:51
    Content type: Research Published on:

  13. Few epidemiological investigations have focused on the influence of environmental temperature on human sperm quality. Here, we evaluated the potential association between ambient temperature and human sperm qu...

    Authors: Xiaochen Wang, Xiaojia Tian, Bo Ye, Yi Zhang, Xiaotong Zhang, Shichun Huang, Cunlu Li, Simin Wu, Rui Li, Yuliang Zou, Jingling Liao, Jing Yang and Lu Ma
    Citation: Environmental Health 2020 19:44
    Content type: Research Published on:

  14. From 2006 to 2011, the City of Houston received nearly 200 community complaints about air pollution coming from some metal recycling facilities. The investigation by the Houston Health Department (HHD) found t...

    Authors: Elaine Symanski, Heyreoun An Han, Loren Hopkins, Mary Ann Smith, Sheryl McCurdy, Inkyu Han, Maria Jimenez, Christine Markham, Donald Richner, Daisy James and Juan Flores
    Citation: Environmental Health 2020 19:39
    Content type: Research Published on:

  15. Malaysia has the highest rate of diabetes mellitus (DM) in the Southeast Asian region, and has ongoing air pollution and periodic haze exposure.

    Authors: Shew Fung Wong, Poh Sin Yap, Joon Wah Mak, Wan Ling Elaine Chan, Geok Lin Khor, Stephen Ambu, Wan Loy Chu, Maria Safura Mohamad, Norazizah Ibrahim Wong, Nur Liana Ab. Majid, Hamizatul Akmal Abd. Hamid, Wan Shakira Rodzlan Hasani, Muhammad Fadhli bin Mohd Yussoff, Hj. Tahir bin Aris, Ezahtulsyahreen Bt. Ab. Rahman and Zaleha Bt. M. Rashid
    Citation: Environmental Health 2020 19:37
    Content type: Research Published on:

  16. The Minamata Convention (MC), a multilateral environmental agreement (MEA), aims to protect human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury and its compounds. The success ...

    Authors: Brij Mohan Sharma, Girija K. Bharat, Kateřina Šebková and Martin Scheringer
    Citation: Environmental Sciences Europe 2019 31:96
    Content type: Policy Brief Published on:

  18. Low-income and minority communities often face disproportionately high pollutant exposures. The lead crisis in Flint, Michigan, has sparked concern about broader socioeconomic disparities in exposures to drink...

    Authors: Laurel A. Schaider, Lucien Swetschinski, Christopher Campbell and Ruthann A. Rudel
    Citation: Environmental Health 2019 18:3
    Content type: Research Published on: