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Brighton Park: Reduce The Amount of Toxic Pollutants Released

Department of Nursing, Oak Point University

NUR 4015: Nursing Care of Communities and Populations

Professor Tracey Kapusnik

February 4, 2024

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Brighton Park: Reduce The Amount of Toxic Pollutants Released

The Healthy People 2030 objective I chose is to reduce the amount of toxic pollutants

released into the environment for the community of Brighton Park. Brighton Park is a southwest-

side community in Chicago, Illinois with 45,141 residents according to the 2020 Census. Most of

the residents living in Brighton Park are of Hispanic or Latino race and ethnicity, making up

79.8% of the population (Chicago Health Atlas, 2022). This Healthy People 2030 objective

focuses on reducing people’s exposure to toxic pollutants in the air, water, soil, and materials

found in homes or workplaces. Environmental pollutants can cause health issues such as

respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, and certain types of cancer. People who live in

communities that are exposed to a higher amount of toxic pollutants have an increased risk of

premature death and the burden of disease (Brusseau et al., 2019).

Brighton Park is affected by this environmental health issue because it is one of the

communities in Chicago with the highest amount of toxic pollutants. The Brighton Park

Industrial Corridor contains 57 industrial businesses that have the potential to release toxic air

pollutants. There are also three major traffic highways within this community that can elevate

levels of air pollution specifically from diesel, and in some cases lead (Laidlaw et al., 2012).

Brighton Park has multiple freight hubs which are known to contribute to the release of air

pollutants in this community. This environmental health issue initiated the formation of the

Southwest Environmental Alliance in September 2019. The Southwest Environmental Alliance is

made up of residents of southwest communities such as Brighton Park, Little Village, McKinley

Park, Pilsen, and Back of the Yards. It was formed to address the ongoing pollution and impact

on health from the highly polluting facilities within the industrial corridors encircling these

communities (University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health, 2021).

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The community of Brighton Park is aware of this issue and has been speaking out about

this issue since 2019. The community along with the Southwest Environmental Alliance has been

vocal about what they call “environmental racism” (Chase, 2023). Brighton Park’s population is

predominately of Hispanic or Latino race or ethnicity. Health disparities are frequently

associated with race and ethnicity which can impact the differences in health outcomes

experienced by one population compared with another. Socioeconomic status and the

neighborhood are social determinants of health that also impact an individual’s health outcomes

(DeMarco & Healey-Walsh, 2020).

Brighton Park’s median household income and per capita income are substantially lower

than the city average. The median household income for Brighton Park is $47,842 compared to

the city average of $65,719. The per capita income for Brighton Park is $20,368 compared to the

city average of $42,032 (Chicago Health Atlas, 2022). In 2021, the Southwest Environmental

Alliance partnered with the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health to educate

and empower community members on pollution and to improve this environmental health issue.

They led a study in Brighton Park that identified nitric acid, glycol ethers, chromium, nickel,

nitrate, and zinc compounds as toxic air pollutants located in the community (University of

Illinois Chicago School of Public Health, 2021). These toxic air pollutants can cause skin

irritations, fatigue, anemia, metal fume fever, and nausea (Environmental Protection Agency,

2020).

Currently, this is still an environmental health issue in the community. In December 2023,

arsenic, mercury, lead, and manganese were found in the soil at a site in Brighton Park. Traces of

other toxic chemicals including cyanide and cancer-causing PCBs compounds were also found in

what was supposed to be a new migrant tent site. The site is located at 38th and California in

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Brighton Park and was to shelter about 2,000 migrants. Although city officials deemed it safe

after cleaning up, the state of Illinois did not proceed with the shelter site after further review by

the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IPEA) because of exposure concerns (Chase,

2023).

The strategies implemented to address and improve this environmental problem are being

implemented by the residents of Brighton Park with the Southwest Environmental Alliance. They

are holding press conferences, organizing protests and community meetings, and using social

media to raise awareness of this environmental health problem in their community. Barriers that

can affect the success of this strategy are low economic status, lack of access to healthcare,

discrimination against race or ethnicity, and built environment. Community health nurses can use

the Public Health Wheel of Interventions such as surveillance, investigation of health events,

outreach, advocacy, and community organizing (DeMarco & Healey-Walsh, 2020). Community

health nurses can use outreach to locate and identify Brighton Park as a population at risk for

toxic pollutants and identify possible actions. They can also help mobilize resources and develop

strategies to reduce the amount of toxic pollutants released into the environment.

Based on the evidence, Brighton Park suffers from an unequal burden of this

environmental issue and poor social justice. One of the key principles of public health nursing is

utilitarianism which is the ethical theory of the greater good. Public health nurses can use

community empowerment which is the process of enabling communities to increase control over

their lives to communities like Brighton Park to improve this environmental health issue

(DeMarco & Healey-Walsh, 2020).

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References

Brusseau, M. L., Ramirez-Andreotta, M., Pepper, I. L., & Maximillian, J. (2019). Environmental

impacts on human health and well-being. Environmental and Pollution Science, 477–499.

https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-814719-1.00026-4

Chase, B. (2023, December 2). Brighton Park Migrant Tent Site had mercury, arsenic, other

contaminants – but city deems it “safe for temporary residential use.” Times.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/2023/12/1/23984897/brighton-park-migrant-tent-site-

polluted-mercury-arsenic

Chicagohealthatlas.org. (n.d.). https://chicagohealthatlas.org/neighborhood/1714000-

58?place=brighton-park

DeMarco, R. F., & Healey-Walsh, J. (2020). Community and Public Health Nursing: Evidence

for Practice (3rd ed.). Wolters Kluwer.

Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.). EPA. https://www.epa.gov/haps

Laidlaw, M. A. S., Zahran, S., Mielke, H. W., Taylor, M. P., & Filippelli, G. M. (2012). Re-

suspension of lead contaminated urban soil as a dominant source of atmospheric lead in

Birmingham, Chicago, Detroit and Pittsburgh, USA. Atmospheric Environment, 49, 302–

310. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2011.11.030

Toxic emissions in Chicago’s Southwest Side. Toxic emissions in Chicago’s southwest side |

School of Public Health | University of Illinois Chicago. (2021a, March 8).

https://publichealth.uic.edu/news-stories/toxic-emissions-chicago-southwest-side/

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