Growing up fearing gun violence, the writer, a Black woman, later discovered the invisible threats of environmental toxins near her childhood home may have played a larger role in her lifelong reproductive health struggles.
Reniqua Allen-Lamphere writes for The Guardian.
In short:
- Black Americans are 75% more likely to live near industrial facilities and breathe air with 38% more pollution than white communities, leading to disproportionate reproductive health issues.
- Contaminants like heavy metals and industrial solvents can disrupt hormones, reduce egg quality, and contribute to infertility, miscarriage, and diseases like endometriosis.
- Environmental concerns about toxic exposures are often dismissed as "wild speculation," while systemic barriers make it harder to research the connections between pollution and reproductive health.
Key quote:
"When a woman, through no fault of her own, doesn’t have a viable pregnancy, sometimes people make it seem as if it’s her fault. There is a conversation happening about Black maternal health, but I feel like they’re not connecting it to pollution.”
— Marquita, Tennessee resident
Why this matters:
Communities of color frequently bear the brunt of industrial pollution, facing higher rates of infertility, miscarriage, and chronic illness. Living near factories, chemical plants, and other industrial facilities means daily exposure to endocrine disruptors and toxic metals that can silently undermine reproductive health over decades. Meanwhile, regulatory rollbacks and gaps in scientific research make it harder to prove these links, leaving affected families without validation or support. This pattern reflects broader environmental injustices, where systemic racism and weak public health protections combine to create generational harm. As climate change worsens flooding and pollution patterns, these environmental assaults on fertility are likely to grow even more severe, deepening existing health disparities.
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