Book Review

Street Science: Community Knowledge and Environmental Health Justice by Jason Corburn showcases the relationships of community resident activists called street scientists and their counterparts who are public health professionals of various disciplines.

Chapters 1 and 2 provide an introduction to how the book is organized, perspectives on the relationship between community-based participatory research and street science, and definition of local knowledge as referenced in street science. Illustrations are presented throughout this book on how various community organizations work fervently in order to protect the health of residents.

In chapter 3, street scientists - in this instance residents of the Greenpoint/Williambsurg community organized by the Watchperson Project - interview immigrants who eat fish from the East River.  The Watchperson Project survey determines that local anglers catch between 40 – 75 fish per week, averaging 57 fish per week. They estimate each family member of an angler eats approximately 9.5 local fish per week.  A diet involving fish eaten from East River exposes the immigrants to potential toxins such as chlordane, polychlorinated biphenols and mercury.  The street scientists effectively educate the EPA scientists about the extent to which immigrants ate fish caught from the East River. 

In chapter 4, a coalition of community organizations involving street scientists worked with public health professionals of the New York City Department of Health to investigate the causes of the escalating rates of childhood asthma occurring in the Greenpoint/Williamsburg Latino community.  The quality of clean air and environmental air pollutant factors were evaluated in order to detect the possible causes of this chronic disorder.  Chapter 5 describes the increased risk a community from lead poisoning due to sandblasting work in preparation for repainting on the Williamsburg Bridge. Chapter 6 describes the development and utilization of "community risk" maps to educate about environmental impacts.

The pace of the book is slow in the beginning (the first two chapters) as the author explains basic concepts, and picks up from Chapter 3 on when the case studies are described.  Street Science is messy process, and decisions do not always work out as intended, but there is value added to true understanding of risks, and contributing factors.

For example, residents are able to demonstrate increased lead levels in the soil due to sandblasting on the Williamburg Bridge, and are successful in getting a court order to stop the process based on soil analysis results. Government officials are forced to consult with the community and get input.  There is major discord between the expert consultant hired by the community and community residents on what strategy they should focus on to address the process.

In the scenario with asthma incidence, the Latino community is unable to partner with the Hasidic Jew or Polish communities in implementing a survey.  The Hasidic Jews lead a life isolated from the “outside,” explains the Rabbi, and they do not talk publicly about health, and will not open doors to strangers, in this case surveyors. The Polish community did not feel ownership of the survey as it was headed by a Latino organization, El Puente.  However, El Puente had more success in working in partnership with the United Jewish Appeal for Hasidic Jews when they worked on the environmental toxic mapping project that did not involve individual surveys.

There were a few instances when the content needed clarification.  In an introductory chapter, the author attempts to differentiate between street science and types of community-based participatory research (CBPR) that do not allow for dialogue between community and “traditional” experts such as scientists and academia.  The reviewers wondered if this was a CBPR that was conducted in name only, as isn’t the intent of CBPR truly to engage the community as in Street Science?  The author often compares environmental street scientists to AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP), the AIDS advocacy group.  In one instance (p. 143), the author quotes from a 1996 personal communication by B. Epstein of Hunts Point Community Development Corporation in the Bronx that said: Clearly, the “constituency” for asthma is mostly children of the urban poor and people of color, not the largely white, well-off organizers of the AIDS movement.  This statement is not challenged, nor is there an effort to explore what made these strategies more successful. 

On the other hand, when an issue is explored, such as the reluctance of the Hasidic Jewish and Polish communities to participate in a survey initiated by a Latino community-based organization, it makes for intriguing reading.

All in all, the book Street Science makes for intriguing reading that demonstrates how residents fight in order to resolve environmental injustices in their community.

Dr. Apryl R. Brown is a biology instructor at Wayne County Community College District in Detroit.  Furthermore, she is the coordinator of the Detroit Medical Reserve Corps, which is a local unit of a national, community-based organization working to address the public health priorities of the U.S. Surgeon General.  Dr. Brown is a member of the APHA-CHPPD/Michigan Public Health Association, Global Health Council, Genetic Alliance Advocate Partner, and the American Association of University Women.  As a result of her dedication to public health community service, Dr. Brown will be inducted into the Delta Omega Honorary Society of Public Health through the Eta Chapter at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.

Priti Irani is the Project Director - Assessment Initiative, a CDC-funded cooperative agreement, working at the Public Health Information Group, Center for Community Health, New York State Department of Health.  She enjoys reading, and thanks the CHPPD membership for offering her the opportunity to review resources. She is also the out-going editor of the CHPPD newsletter, and the Chair-Elect of the Section.