New study shows fatalities from air pollution are still high

July 11th, 2017 by Dakota Software Staff

While air pollution levels in the U.S. have declined significantly in recent decades thanks to strict environmental regulations - such as the Clean Air Act - many cities and regions still struggle to meet air quality standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Each state is required to meet the quality standards set by the EPA, but how they do so is up to their discretion. The ruling sets restrictions on allowable amount of pollutants such as particulates - small particles and liquid droplets that can be inhaled - lead, and sulfur dioxide among others.

Even with pollution levels within the acceptable parameters set by the EPA, sufficiently contaminated air still causes thousands of deaths nationwide, according to a recent New England Journal of Medicine study.

Tightened regulations could potentially prevent thousands of annual deaths from air pollution

The study sourced its information from satellites and federally run air monitoring stations to determine pollution levels with exacting specificity - down to individual zip codes. Researchers then analyzed how low levels of pollution affected mortality rates using data from over 60 million individuals on Medicare between 2000 and 2012. They concluded that, each year, around 12,000 lives could be saved with a reduction of the current nationwide airborne particulate matter standards by 1 microgram per cubic meter.

The EPA defines airborne particulate matter as dust, smoke, soot, drops of fluid formed from industrial emissions and chemical reactions when fuel sources such as oil and coal are burned.

The study also found that the effects of this pollution disproportionately affect citizens with low incomes and minorities, specifically African-Americans who are around three times as likely to die from contaminated air. People of color have a higher risk of fatality because they tend to live near areas with high pollution levels and have less access to suitable health care.

"We are now providing bullet-proof evidence that we are breathing harmful air," said Francesca Dominici, a biostatistics professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who spearheaded the study, to NPR. "It's very strong, compelling evidence that currently, the safety standards are not safe enough."

"I think it is the responsibility of the government to make sure that our air is clean," Dominici said.

The current presidential administration has made drastic changes to the EPA since taking office. Staffing cuts, regulation rollbacks, and skepticism over research conducted during the tenure of the previous administration have been widespread under Scott Pruitt, the agency's administrator. Some changes have directly affected levels of air pollution from certain industries.

If and when the EPA makes a decision on the issue, states would then be responsible for for dictating exactly how regulating air pollution would occur. Industries known to emit high levels of particulate and gas into the air could potentially see a tightening, or loosening, of regulation in the future.

While the EPA does not have any specific plans to reduce nationwide air pollution levels, recent attempts have been made to decrease air pollution monitoring within the oil and gas industry specifically, but D.C. courts prevented drastic action from occurring.