Basu: Environmental racism drives racial disparities in adverse birth outcomes
Dr. Rupa Basu · How air pollution and heat make pregnancy more dangerous · May 25, 2022 · at 13:25
Dr. Rupa Basu, environmental epidemiologist at the California EPA, explains the structural factors behind higher rates of preterm birth and stillbirth among Black mothers.
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“The reason that we see this disparity among black people who have delivered prematurely or stillbirth or term low birth weight Is because of environmental racism. We really see higher levels of these exposures that we studied among black and brown communities in general. The houses are closer to freeways. They're closer to fossil fuel combustion areas. And there's also less health education. There's less ability to mitigate.”
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