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From the shantytowns along the U.S.-Mexico border to urban areas clogged with smog, Latinos are disproportionately exposed to health threats, according to a report released Wednesday by an environmental group. Latinos, now a majority in some of the nation's most polluted metropolitan and rural areas, are particularly threatened by waterborne diseases, air pollution, pesticides and contaminants such as lead and mercury, the Natural Resources Defense Council reported. While the study noted pollution poses health risks for everyone and offered some specific comparisons with other racial groups, its main finding was the general assessment that Latinos suffer more than the rest of the population. The group called on the government to fund more studies on the effects of environmental health hazards, step up outreach programs to Latino communities and slap restrictions on polluters. Along the 2,000 mile U.S.-Mexico border, 1.5 million Latinos live in sprawling shantytowns, called colonias, which typically lack safe drinking water and adequate waste treatment facilities. Another group of Latinos suffering from environmental health threats are farmworkers, the report showed. Nearly 90 percent of U.S. farmworkers are Hispanic, and many of the laborers and their families have been routinely exposed to toxic pesticides.[more

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