Environmental and health impacts of brownfields

This chapter examines the environmental and human health consequences of brownfield sites land left contaminated by former industrial, commercial, or military activity. Beginning with the foundational case of Love Canal, it surveys the principal contaminant groups found on brownfields, including heavy metals, petroleum hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds, persistent organic pollutants, asbestos, and emerging substances such as PFAS, explaining how each moves through soil, groundwater, and air to reach human populations. The chapter reviews the resulting health burden, spanning neurodevelopmental harm, respiratory disease, cancer, endocrine disruption, cardiovascular damage, and psychosocial stress, and highlights the disproportionate exposure faced by disadvantaged communities. It then addresses risk assessment methodology, remediation approaches ranging from excavation to nature-based solutions, and the governance frameworks needed to ensure cleanup translates into genuine, equitable community benefit. Four case studies illustrate both the consequences of mismanagement and the possibilities of well-planned redevelopment. The chapter concludes by identifying critical research gaps, including longitudinal epidemiology, cumulative exposure modelling, and the tracking of social equity outcomes following redevelopment.