About the Material Research World Atlas
Since 2019 Material Research has worked with many of the world's leading journalists and environmental health and social justice organizations. Our collaborations have increased common understanding about the origins of toxic pollution and inequity.
At launch on January 1, 2023, the Material Research World Atlas identified 465 facilities that we have investigated. By October 2023, the Atlas has identified over 600 facilities. All information presented is open access and was compiled to facilitate work for communities, journalists, environmental justice groups, politicians or any world citizen who wants to use their right to be informed about the chemical hazards and toxic chemicals produced close to their homes or anywhere.
Site information includes links to related reports and articles published by our partners. We will continue to add facilities in the coming months. We especially intend to expand the information and amount of facilities outside of the United States. For US facilities, links are provided to EPA toxic chemical (TRI) reports and greenhouse gas (GHG) reports. Links are also provided to the Center for Disease Control's social vulnerability data for communities around the petrochemical plants.
The Atlas was built on ArcGIS by Material Research associate researchers Selena Sillari and Hira Ozair, with the expert assistance of Gordon Longsworth Director, Geographic Information Systems Laboratory at College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, ME.
This is an experimental endeavor related to a more expansive data system under development with partner organizations to be publicly launched in 2024.
Material Research World Atlas © 2023 by Material Research is licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International