ATS: Air Pollution Causes Thousands of Deaths per Year
The majority of US counties are not meeting air quality standards set by the American Thoracic Society (ATS), which is causing thousands of excess deaths per year, according to a joint report published by the ATS and the Marron Institute.
To write the report, a panel of experts reviewed US air pollution data from 2013 to 2015. Ground-level ozone (O3), fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and lung cancer incidence were evaluated.
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ATS standards for O3 and PM2.5 are more stringent than those relied upon by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). For instance, the ATS’s 8-hour standard for O3 is 0.060 parts per million, whereas the EPA’s standard is 0.070.
Results of the analysis showed that of the 3000 counties in the United States, only 498 (17%) of them had valid PM2.5 values from 2013 to 2015.
Only 726 (24%) counties had valid O3 values from 2013 to 2015, of which only 134 (4%) had ATS-acceptable values.
“The Health of the Air report was created with a goal of providing a policy-relevant tool for federal and local leaders as they make air quality management and policy decisions,” the report concluded.
“By providing morbidity and mortality estimates specific to each county, this report allows policymakers and environmental managers to know with greater precision how meeting ATS recommended air quality standards can benefit their communities.”
Read the full report on the ATS website here.
—Amanda Balbi
Reference:
Cromar KR, Gladson LA, Ghazipura M, Ewart G. American Thoracic Society and Marron Institute Report: Estimated excess morbidity and mortality associated with air pollution above American Thoracic Society-recommended standards, 2013-2015 [published online February 8, 2018]. doi:10.1513/AnnalsATS.201710-785EH.