Abstract
Three years in the making, the Institute of Medicine report Toward Environmental Justice was funded by a consortium of agencies, including the NIEHS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Department of Energy. The independent review was authored by a 15-member committee that represented academia, public interest, medicine, law, and industry. The committee met with stakeholders, citizens, public officials, and industry representatives around the United States to assess the need for better research, education, and health policy related to environmental justice. The report investigates the situation of groups of individuals suspected of having disproportionately high levels of exposure to environmental stressors such as chemicals, biologics, allergenics, toxicants, light, noise, odors, and particulate matter. The report calls for more research to help identify and verify the environmental etiologies of diseases. It also recommends that citizens be recruited to participate in the design and execution of the research, and that communication during all phases of the research be open and reciprocal.