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The Environmental Justice Index (EJI) is the first national, place-based tool designed to measure the cumulative impacts of environmental burden through the lens of human health and health equity.
The EJI delivers a single score for each community so that public health officials can identify and map areas most at risk for the health impacts of environmental burden. Social factors such as poverty, race, and ethnicity, along with preexisting health conditions may increase these impacts.
Specifically, the EJI databases and maps can be used to:
- Identify and prioritize areas that may require special attention or additional resources to improve health and health equity,
- Educate and inform the public about their community,
- Analyze the unique, local factors driving cumulative impacts on health to inform policy and decision making, and
- Establish meaningful goals and measure progress towards environmental justice and health equity.
The EJI will be updated regularly using feedback from the communities it serves.
Use the EJI: https://eji.cdc.gov/
Webinars
In fall of 2022, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Environmental Justice and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (CDC/ATSDR) hosted several webinars showcasing the Environmental Justice Index (EJI). The EJI builds off existing environmental justice indexes to provide a single score for local communities across the United States. It is the first national, geographic-driven tool designed to measure the cumulative impacts of environmental burden through the lenses of human health and health equity.
A recording is now available: The Environmental Justice Index: Measuring the Cumulative Impacts of Environmental Burden on Health – YouTube
SPEAKERS:
- Sharunda Buchanan, MS, PhD | Interim Director, Office of Environmental Justice (HHS)
- Benjamin McKenzie, MS | Geospatial Epidemiologist; Coordinator of the Environmental Justice Index, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (CDC/ATSDR)