Something in the air: Toxic pollution in and around U.S. prisons
| Published date | 01 October 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/14624745221114826 |
| Author | Elisa L. Toman |
| Date | 01 October 2023 |
Something in the air: Toxic
pollution in and around U.S.
prisons
Elisa L. Toman
Criminal Justice and Criminology, Sam Houston State University,
Huntsville, Texas, United States
Abstract
Toxic chemicals are released into land, air, and waterways daily. Exposure to such che-
micals, however, is not equally distributed across the U.S. It is well documented that
communities without agency and capital, typically economically and socially disadvan-
taged, are those that suffer the brunt of the impacts of a polluted environment.
These impacts can have both acute and chronic health consequences, leading to
lower life expectancy, higher cancer rates, and compromised immune systems.
Emerging qualitative work indicates that incarcerated persons –individuals who have
no agency to leave their environment –are disproportionately affected by our polluting
practices. This study argues that environmental regulations across the country allow
polluting industries to poison confined populations. Nationwide data from the
Environmental Prote ction Agency’s Toxic Release Inventory is used to examine if
industries geographically closer to correctional facilities emit greater amounts of
toxic chemicals. Regional differences are examined as well. Results identify a pattern
of harm –incarcerated pe rsons who already h ave compromised health a re also
exposed to high levels of toxic chemicals.
Keywords
incarceration, green criminology, environmental justice
Corresponding author:
Elisa L. Toman, Criminal Justice and Criminology, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas,
United States.
Email: etoman@shsu.edu
Article
Punishment & Society
2023, Vol. 25(4) 867–887
© The Author(s) 2022
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/14624745221114826
journals.sagepub.com/home/pun
Each year billions of pounds of toxic chemicals are released into U.S. air, waterways, and
land (Environmental Protection Agency [EPA], 2019). In 2019, based on approximately
21,000 facilities reporting to the EPA, 2.16 billion pounds (lbs.) of toxic chemicals were
released onto land, 580 million lbs. were released into the air, and another 201 million lbs.
were discharged into U.S. waterways (EPA, 2019). Exposure to pollutants has negative
consequences for human health, which can range from acute symptoms such as head-
aches and temporary effects on the central nervous system (e.g. “metal fume fever”)to
increased risk of cancer and premature death (Gilderbloom et al., 2020; Kiaghadi
et al., 2021; Manisalidis, et al., 2020).
Exposure to toxic chemicals and its attendant health effects are not equally distributed
across the U.S. The Southern, Midwestern, and Mountain regions of the U.S. tend to have
more toxic emissions than other regions (EPA, 2019). Areas with high poverty levels and
large concentrations of people of color also tend to be more polluted (Evans and
Kantrowitz, 2002; Rogers, 2015). Although some debate exists, one explanation for
this phenomenon is that residents within these communities are not afforded the social
and political capital necessary to prevent industries from opening and expanding facilities
that emit large loads of toxic chemicals. Thus, they become stuck in places that have sig-
nificant negative effects on their physical health. Recent scholarship and activism have
turned toward understanding if and how individuals in prison—those with arguably
the lowest amount of capital—are affected by toxic emissions (e.g. Abolitionist Law
Center and Human Rights Coalition, 2014; Leon-Corwin et al., 2020). Stories of
prisons situated in (dangerously close) proximity to coal mining waste, for example,
have garnered some media attention and scholarly interest (Abolitionist Law Center
and Human Rights Coalition, 2014; Bernd et al., 2017; Schept, 2022). However, empir-
ical studies that can examine whether this is a pattern or an isolated incident in any given
town or state, are lacking.
Yet, research such as this constitutes a critical next step in bridging environmental
justice and criminal justice literature (Bradshaw, 2018; Lynch and Stretesky, 2014).
The U.S. incarcerates approximately 2.1 million individuals (Kluckow and Zeng,
2022), many of whom are poor and in bad mental and physical health. This already dis-
advantaged population may be further harmed by disproportionate exposure to chemical
toxins. Moreover, even short-term exposure to toxic chemicals can cause detrimental
health outcomes and prisons across the U.S. are ill equipped to provide acceptable
medical care (Potter and Rosky, 2014). This collateral consequence of mass incarceration
has received insufficient attention in the literature.
Accordingly, the aim of the current study is to examine differences in toxic releases
between U.S. area zip codes that contain and those that do not contain a prison facility.
This study constitutes a direct response to calls from scholars to break the boundary
between green criminological research and prison scholarship (Bradshaw, 2018; Braz
and Gilmore, 2006). The data utilized for this study come from the EPA’s toxic
release inventory (TRI) and the American Community Survey (ACS) and cover a
6-year time span, from 2015 to 2020. Negative binomial regression will be used to
examine whether zip codes across the U.S. that contain a prison have higher levels of
toxic releases than zip codes that do not contain prisons, net of key socioeconomic
868 Punishment & Society 25(4)
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