The Power of Information
5 Years in a Row
Top rated, 2003-2007
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.
Particle Civics: Key Findings
Key Findings
- Airborne particulate matter (PM) causes or contributes to the deaths
of more Californians than car accidents, murder and AIDS combined. State
health officials are proposing new air pollution rules that could save
or extend more than 6,500 lives a year.
- Considering health care costs and missed work days due to respiratory
illnesses, the price tag for particulate pollution in California approaches
$1 billion a year. Proposed new standards could save about half of that
amount each year.
- The proposed new standards would reduce the total number of deaths
from all causes in California by about three percent a year. They would
avert more than 300,000 asthma attacks and 2.8 million missed work days
a year.
- Only one California county is in full compliance with current state
standards. Statewide, total PM emissions are on the rise, and the great
majority of Californians are exposed to potentially harmful levels.
Over 99 percent of Californians breathe air that violates current standards
during at least part of the year.
- Although agriculture is the largest industry in California and a major
source of particulate pollution, especially in the San Joaquin Valley,
agricultural activities are exempt from most air pollution rules.
