Medical evidence continues to pour in showing a strong link between air pollution and increased human mortality. The big players are ozone and small particles, known as PM2.5, in the atmosphere. Both have been under scrutiny by the EPA for years.
Ozone is an irritant to the respiratory system, making it especially harmful for patients with asthma and emphysema. Studies at Brigham Young University have also shown a direct correlation between ozone levels and increased risk of heart attacks.
“If you had two weeks and everything else was equal – the weather was exactly the same, etc. – and the only thing that was different was the ozone level, we’d anticipate higher mortality on the week with higher ozone than the week with lower ozone.”
A few years ago, Michelle Bell, a professor at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, reported a 0.52% increased risk of mortality in the week following a 10 ppb increase in ozone levels among 95 urban areas in the United States.
“Right now, there are over 100 million people in the United States that live in areas that exceed EPA’s health-based standards for ozone.”
A newly-published study indicates 200,000 premature deaths each year in the United States due to high PM2.5 concentrations and 10,000 deaths due to high ozone levels. Countless others suffer from reduced productivity and lost days at work.
Many who despise government regulations argue against air pollution controls. We should remind them that these are losses of real people and their economic productivity—losses which are unbecoming and costly to a civilized society.
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Web Extra
Full interview with Michelle Bell, professor at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies
[audio:http://wamcradio.org/EarthWise/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Bell_full_web.mp3|titles=Bell_full_web]
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Web Links
See. Caizzo et al. (2013). Air pollution and early deaths in the United States. Atmospheric Environment , November 2013.
Photo, taken on January 9, 2011, courtesy of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio. Support for Earth Wise comes from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, NY.