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. 2014 Apr;104(4):603-11.
doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2013.301664. Epub 2014 Feb 13.

The drinking water disparities framework: on the origins and persistence of inequities in exposure

Carolina L Balazs  1 , Isha Ray
Affiliations

The drinking water disparities framework: on the origins and persistence of inequities in exposure

Carolina L Balazs et al. Am J Public Health. 2014 Apr.

Abstract

With this article, we develop the Drinking Water Disparities Framework to explain environmental injustice in the context of drinking water in the United States. The framework builds on the social epidemiology and environmental justice literatures, and is populated with 5 years of field data (2005-2010) from California's San Joaquin Valley. We trace the mechanisms through which natural, built, and sociopolitical factors work through state, county, community, and household actors to constrain access to safe water and to financial resources for communities. These constraints and regulatory failures produce social disparities in exposure to drinking water contaminants. Water system and household coping capacities lead, at best, to partial protection against exposure. This composite burden explains the origins and persistence of social disparities in exposure to drinking water contaminants.

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Figures

FIGURE 1—
FIGURE 1—
The Drinking Water Disparities Framework. Note. HH = household; NA = not applicable; TMF = technical, managerial, and financial. Multilevel environmental factors act through multilevel actors to have an impact on exposure and coping capabilities. Race and class characteristics are embedded in many of the factors and actors throughout.
FIGURE 2—
FIGURE 2—
The Drinking Water Disparities Framework applied to the specific case of Tooleville, California. Note. HH = household; MCL =  maximum contaminant level; NA = not applicable; TMF = technical, managerial, and financial. Multilevel environmental factors act through multilevel actors to have an impact on exposure and coping capabilities. Race and class characteristics are embedded in many of the factors and actors throughout.
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