UIS-led study highlights environmental inequality in chemical disposal

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) - A new nationwide study led by a University of Illinois Springfield faculty member found that people in lower-income communities and communities of color are more likely to live near sites where industries dispose of cancer-causing chemicals.

The study examined data from across the United States between 2010 and 2018.

It found that millions of pounds of chemicals known or suspected to cause cancer are disposed of on land each year.

"Environmental exposures are often involuntary; we don't necessarily know," said Jessica Madrigal, associate professor in the School of Integrated Sciences.

The study also found that many of the highest levels of chemical disposal occur in parts of the southern and western United States.