Environmental & Maternal Health

Pollution and climate change affect pregnancy and maternal and child health outcomes in many ways. For example, high temperatures during pregnancy are linked to premature births and stillbirths. Exposure to poor air quality can contribute to low birth weight, preterm birth, and worsened asthma—which, if untreated, can lead to dangerous conditions like pre-eclampsia.

💡 This is a critical but under-resourced area.
E2I2 is collaborating with community-based maternal health organizations to develop community-driven research and education programs focused on understanding and addressing environmental exposures and maternal health outcomes.

📩 Interested in collaborating? Contact our Executive Director, Louise Palmer: lpalmer@e2i2.org.

Ongoing Related Projects:
🔹E2I2 is an environmental and maternal health subject matter expert to the MHREACH project at Texas Southern University. Learn more here: MHREACH – Maternal Health Center at Texas Southern University

🔹E2I2 is developing the first of its kind maternal-environmental equity index. We are seeking funders to support this important work. Reach out to our Executive Director, Louise Palmer: lpalmer@e2i2.org if you would like to collaborate and support this initiative.

Environmental Justice Data Action Portal (EJDAP)

EJDAP is an interactive community-centered online portal developed by the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) and Intellectual Concepts, LLC to provide environmental justice organizations with access to critical environmental health data.


📡 E2I2 serves as a technical subcontractor to Intellectual Concepts providing:


✔️ Technical support.
✔️ Data analysis and visualization.
✔️ Plain-language data interpretation.

🔗 Explore EJDAP at www.ejdap.org.!


Community Engaged Learning – Power Over Pollution

🌱 Power Over Pollution is E2I2’s environmental health data literacy program, designed to help EJ communities:

✔️ Understand environmental and health risks.
✔️ Navigate pollution-related data sources.
✔️ Interpret maps, charts, and reports.
✔️ Develop action plans for community advocacy.

This hands-on, interactive program integrates community-centered learning, participatory activities, and mindfulness exercises, ensuring that knowledge translates into real-world impact.

Community – Based Air Quality Monitoring

In a groundbreaking initiative, E2I2 custom builds and installs solar-powered, continuous air quality monitors to monitor air toxins of concern to each community we work with. To support the interpretation of the data for local action, we implement our Power Over Pollution community-centered data literacy training curriculum.

Ongoing Related Projects:

🤝 Partnering with Deep South Center for Environmental Justice and Intellectual Concepts, LLC, we are currently installing five air monitors to collect real-time air quality data in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana. For this location, our air monitors track PM2.5, ethylene oxide, and chloroprene, which pose significant health risks to residents.

Additionally, using Power Over Pollution, we will train residents how to install, maintain, and interpret sensor data and provide community education on using data for local advocacy efforts.

Geographic Information System (GIS) Mapping & Community Data Analysis

Environmental justice data, while abundant, is often scattered across various federal, state, and local agencies, making access and interpretation difficult.

Map showing toxic release and minority population.

E2I2 provides data-driven insights to help communities tell their environmental justice stories. 

We use tools like:
GIS mapping to display pollutants such as toxic air emissions from Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) facilities and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Our mapping overlays environmental data with socio-demographic factors (e.g., racial group, poverty levels) to visualize the communities most impacted.
Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST) to describe environmental burdens.

EPA’s EJScreen to compare community data with national and state averages.

📊 We translate data into plain-language reports, interactive presentations, and cloud-based portals—empowering communities with data literacy training for effective advocacy.

Ongoing Related Projects:
🔹 Louisiana (Deep South Center for Environmental Justice): Mapping TRI and GHG emissions with socio-demographic indicators and the social vulnerability index (SVI).

Recently Completed Projects:
🔹 Texas (The Bullard Center, Texas Southern University): We analyzed pollution and sociodemographic indicators around 86 proposed petrochemical facilities.

🔹 Georgia (Healthy Communities of Augusta & Savannah Riverkeeper):
We completed a report on the environmental and social conditions of Augusta, Georgia, including TRI and GHG mapping. 

See our work here: Augusta at Risk – Savannah Riverkeeper

  

Environmental burden graph with EJScreen indicators.
Graph of underground storage tanks proximity.

AI for EJ Circle of Responsibility (AI 4 EJ CORE)

The rise of artificial intelligence presents a multitude of equity concerns—including biased AI tools, data privacy issues, limited access for historically marginalized communities, and high water and energy consumption costs.

To address these challenges, E2I2 is convening the AI for EJ Circle of Responsibility (AI 4 EJ CORE), bringing together environmental justice (EJ) community leaders and members. This group will meet virtually on a quarterly basis to ensure AI is optimized for sustainability and serves the needs of EJ communities.

E2I2 will co-chair AI 4 EJ CORE with Savannah Riverkeeper and manage meeting administration. We are actively seeking EJ leaders and members from regional and national communities, as well as subject matter experts to contribute on relevant topics.

📩 Interested in joining? Contact us at info@e2i2.org.