The consequences of exposure to developmental, neurological, and respiratory toxins for school performance: a closer look at environmental ascription in East Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Recent research has found that greater toxic air pollution exposure is associated with decreased school performance, even after other socioeconomic and school-level factors have been taken into account. Here, we add nuance to this literature by focusing on those chemicals that adversely affect child...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Population and environment 2013-12, Vol.35 (2), p.205-224
Main Authors: Scharber, Helen, Lucier, Cristina, London, Bruce, Rosofsky, Anna, Shandra, John
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic Achievement
Air Pollution
Airborne particulates
Arsenic
Ascription
Ascriptions
Asthma
Baton Rouge
BRIEF REPORT
Carcinogens
Chemical hazards
Child Development
Childhood
Childrens health
Class
Demography
Elementary schools
Environment
Environmental health
Environmental indicators
Environmental justice
Environmental pollution
Environmental sociology
Human exposure
Louisiana
Particulate pollution
Pollutants
Pollution
Population Economics
Public Health
Public schools
Race
Respiratory system
Schools
Social Sciences
Social structure
Socioeconomic Factors
Sociology
Studies
Toxicants
Toxicity
Toxins
U.S.A
Variables
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Summary:Recent research has found that greater toxic air pollution exposure is associated with decreased school performance, even after other socioeconomic and school-level factors have been taken into account. Here, we add nuance to this literature by focusing on those chemicals that adversely affect childhood development, as well as those that cause short-or long-term damage to the nervous and respiratory systems, as these should be more important predictors of poor school performance than, for example, known carcinogens. Using the highly detailed Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators geographic microdata, we are able to isolate known and suspected developmental, neurological, and respiratory toxicants. We find that these pollutants are more negatively correlated with school performance scores than broader measures of pollution. We have previously argued for the theoretical importance of looking at the ascriptive forces of race, class, and place simultaneously, and this assertion is reinforced and refined through this analysis.
ISSN:0199-0039
1573-7810
DOI:10.1007/s11111-013-0185-9