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Top rated, 2003-2008
At EWG, our team of scientists, engineers, policy experts, lawyers and computer programmers pores over government data, legal documents, scientific studies and our own laboratory tests to expose threats to your health and the environment, and to find solutions. Our research brings to light unsettling facts that you have a right to know.
EWG News release
DIRTY AIR A CAUSE OF DEATH FOR MORE THAN 9,300 CALIFORNIANS
Report Details Deaths, Illnesses, Other Costs of Dirty Air in Each County
OAKLAND, May 15 — Pollution from airborne soot and dust causes or contributes to the deaths of more Californians than traffic accidents, homicide and AIDS combined, according to a new report released today by Environmental Working Group.
EWG’s analysis of state data found that respiratory illnesses caused
or made worse by microscopic particles of soot and dust – technically,
particulate matter or PM – are responsible for more than 9,300 deaths,
thousands of hospital visits, hundreds of thousands of asthma attacks
and millions of missed work days each year. "Particle Civics: How Cleaner
Air in California Will Save Lives and Save Money," available at www.ewg.org,
not only details the public health impacts in each county in the state,
but for the first time puts a price tag on the annual cost of particulate
pollution.
"There’s an overwhelming scientific consensus that particulate pollution
kills people," said Renee Sharp, EWG analyst and principal author of the
report. "Cleaning up the air is as important to public health and safety
as wearing seatbelts."
State scientists have proposed tougher new air pollution standards that
would save about 6,500 lives and half a billion dollars a year, but they
face strong opposition from a coalition of oil companies and automakers
who have contributed more than $175,000 to Gov. Gray Davis’s re-election
campaign. The Davis-appointed Air Resources Board will vote on the proposed
standards next month, and the decision will be closely watched as the
U.S. EPA prepares to set new federal particulate standards.
Particulate air pollution is most severe in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan
area and the San Joaquin Valley. In the Valley, agriculture is a significant
source of particulates, but most agricultural activities are exempt from
federal and state air pollution rules. Statewide, 55 of 58 counties have
average annual particulate levels that exceed the proposed state standards.
EWG found:
- Each year, particulate air pollution is responsible for more than
16,000 hospital or emergency room admissions, at an estimated health
care cost of $132 million. - PM-related illnesses cause Californians to miss almost 5 million work
days a year, a loss to the state’s economy of more than $880 million. - Cutting particulate pollution to levels recommended by state scientists
will reduce PM-triggered deaths by at least 69 percent, asthma attacks
by 57 percent, hospital visits by 56 percent and cases of chronic bronchitis
by 58 percent.
EWG urges the Air Resources Board to adopt and rigorously enforce the
standards recommended by state scientists. The exemption for agriculture
should be eliminated.
