(554f) Incorporating Environmental Justice into the Mass and Energy Balances Curriculum

With increasing societal interest in chemical safety and the potentially harmful effects of chemical manufacturing and transportation, there is a desire to include environmental considerations within the chemical engineering curriculum. This case study evaluated the intersection of environmental pollution as represented by regional particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) levels, population disparities in pollution exposure based on localization to chemical manufacturing facilities, and Covid-19 mortality rates. The curricular content used 3 peer-reviewed journal articles^1-3 that examined population disparities in pollution exposure and their correlation with Covid mortality rates in the US and specifically in Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley” region, home to a high concentration of chemical manufacturing facilities. Student engineering learning outcomes included practice using unit conversions, increased understanding of environmental regulatory guidelines and definitions (e.g., PM2.5), and practice interpreting statistical correlations in data sets. In addition, student outcomes included public health and safety and ethical practice of engineering content. Over the duration of course engagement, students increased their understanding of air pollution and its sources and its correlation to health effects (from 86% mastery to 100% mastery over 3 assignments). Student ability to correlate these with population disparities was highly variable throughout the assignments (from initial 21% to 100%, mode 50%), suggesting an area for improvement. Nonetheless, this case study provides a starting point for integrating environmental justice considerations into the chemical engineering curriculum in support of the ethical practice of the profession.

1. C. W. Tessum, J. S. Apte, A. L. Goodkind, N. Z. Muller, K. A. Mullins, D. A. Paolella, S. Polasky, N. P. Springer, S. K. Thakrar, J. D. Marshall and J. D. Hill, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2019, 116, 6001-6006.
2. K. A. Terrell and W. James, Environmental Justice, 2020, DOI: 10.1089/env.2020.0021, pre-print.
3. X. Wu, R. C. Nethery, M. B. Sabath, D. Braun and F. Dominici, Science Advances, 2020, 6, eabd4049.