Time - Air pollution from oil and gas is linked to 91,000 premature deaths and hundreds of thousands of health issues across the United States each year—with Black, Asian, Native American and Hispanic groups consistently among the most affected. That’s according to an extensive new study published Aug. 22.
The researchers say that the study, published today in Science Advances, is the first to comprehensively quantify the health impacts outdoor air pollution has across all stages of fossil fuel production, and to analyze disparities in exposure to the health risks.
The study examined the entire oil and gas life cycle: upstream, which involves the exploration and extraction of oil and gas; midstream, which involves compression, transport, and storage; downstream, which involves the transformation into petrochemical products; and end use, when the product reaches its final use stages.
Native American and Hispanic populations are most affected by air pollution that comes from the upstream and midstream stages, the study found, while Black and Asian populations are most impacted by downstream and end-use stages. Researchers also found that 10,350 pre-term births and 216,000 new cases of childhood asthma per year are attributable to air pollution from oil and gas, along with 1,610 lifetime cancers across the U.S.
No comments:
Post a Comment