ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a conceptual and empirical overview of air pollution and respiratory health as seen through the lens of environmental justice (EJ). This critical lens could be applied to many contexts in developing and developed countries and many circumstances as well. The chapter focuses on the experience of environmental/ambient air pollution and human health in developed countries where there is ample EJ research built up over the last two decades. It begins with a brief discussion of basic concepts: types of pollutants, human exposure and health impacts, hazards, risks and the epidemiologist's 'dose-response' relationship between air pollution exposure and human health outcomes. While evidence of environmental air pollution and health research is growing more certain all the time, it is now confronted and informed by the EJ movement. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the seemingly intractable policy problems that arise from the growing EJ literature on air pollution and health.
