Sector: Waste management
ProPublica’s Toxmap is an interactive map that visualizes estimated cancer risk from industrial air pollution across the United States. Built from EPA emissions and modeling data, it shows how toxic chemicals from thousands of facilities spread into surrounding neighborhoods, highlighting hotspots where cumulative industrial air pollution may raise cancer risk to levels the government considers unacceptable. The site lets users zoom to specific communities, see which facilities are driving risk, and explore patterns of environmental injustice in overburdened areas.
EJScreen (formerly an EPA tool, now discontinued and publicly hosted) is a national mapping and screening tool that combines environmental, health, and demographic data to help identify communities that may be disproportionately impacted by pollution and other environmental hazards. It provides interactive maps and summary reports for “EJ indexes” that blend measures like air pollution, proximity to industrial facilities, traffic, and waste sites with indicators such as income, race/ethnicity, and language isolation. Agencies, communities, and advocates use EJScreen to screen for potential environmental justice concerns, prioritize areas for further study or action, and support planning, permitting, and policy decisions.
