Soil Monologues: Critical Ecotones of Pollution, Health, and Justice

Abstract

Resource extraction and resultant pollution and socioecological harm are rooted in settler colonial Land relations. Through disproportionate pollution exposure and vulnerability, the State is largely responsible for creating environmental justice communities. This dissertation is concerned with the pollution experience of marginalized peoples primarily in rural Arizona in three main ways: 1) the quality and safety of rooftop harvested rainwater, garden soil, and garden plants, 2) the human health risks from metal(loid) contamination of garden plants and soil and guidelines for their continued use, and 3) the environmental health literacy and collective action of youth living in environmental justice communities. We used frameworks of community science, critical environmental justice, anti-colonial pollution science, and political education to conduct and analyze participatory research efforts from 2010 – 2025 with the goal of understanding and alleviating environmental injustices. We observed that rooftop harvested rainwater in Arizona is largely safe for irrigation. Garden soils and plants grown and consumed in environmental justice communities pose a health risk from contaminants such as arsenic and manganese, but not substantially more than conventionally grown produce. We were able to calculate place-based risk-based soil and plant screening levels and plant ingestion rates to inform community agricultural practices and consumption. Finally, we observed that informal science youth trainings in rural Arizona successfully increased youth environmental health literacy and illuminated obstacles to youth action such as adultism, critical consciousness, and a culture of silence. Future work will continue to explore how a critical, anti-colonial pollution science can support ending systems of oppression to truly achieve environmental justice.