Linking exposure assessment science with policy objectives for environmental justice and breast cancer advocacy: the northern California household exposure study.

OBJECTIVE

We compared an urban fence-line community (neighboring an oil refinery) and a nonindustrial community in an exposure study focusing on pollutants of interest with respect to breast cancer and environmental justice.

METHODS

We analyzed indoor and outdoor air from 40 homes in industrial Richmond, California, and 10 in rural Bolinas, California, for 153 compounds, including particulates and endocrine disruptors.

RESULTS

Eighty compounds were detected outdoors in Richmond and 60 in Bolinas; Richmond concentrations were generally higher. Richmond's vanadium and nickel levels indicated effects of heavy oil combustion from oil refining and shipping; these levels were among the state's highest. In nearly half of Richmond homes, PM(2.5) exceeded California's annual ambient air quality standard. Paired outdoor-indoor measurements were significantly correlated for industry- and traffic-related PM(2.5), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, elemental carbon, metals, and sulfates (r = 0.54-0.92, P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

Indoor air quality is an important indicator of the cumulative impact of outdoor emissions in fence-line communities. Policies based on outdoor monitoring alone add to environmental injustice concerns in communities that host polluters. Community-based participatory exposure research can contribute to science and stimulate and inform action on the part of community residents and policymakers.