Living near a coal power plant may be more deadly than living near other sources of fine particulate matter pollution.
New research finds that fine particulates 鈥� those of 2.5 渭m diameter or less 鈥� from coal power plants carry twice the mortality risk of the same sized particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution as a whole. This class of coal emissions was responsible for 460,000 deaths in the Medicare population between 1999 and 2020, researchers report.
鈥淭hese externalities are important to calculate,鈥� says study first author Lucas Henneman, an environmental engineer at George Mason Univ. 鈥淣ow, we have an idea of what the real burden is.鈥�
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates particulate matter based on size, Henneman asserts, but there have long been hints that different particles of the same size might have different health impacts. Lots of sources, from vehicle pollution to wildfire smoke, release PM2.5. Coal plants, though, have historically been a major source.
Using data on pollution emissions from the EPA, Henneman and his colleagues built an atmospheric model to determine where that pollution traveled and who likely got exposed. Because the Clean Air Act requires coal...
Would you like to access the complete CEP News Update?
No problem. You just have to complete the following steps.
You have completed 0 of 2 steps.
-
Log in
You must be logged in to view this content. Log in now.
-
AIChE Membership
You must be an AIChE member to view this article. Join now.
Copyright Permissions
Would you like to reuse content from CEP Magazine? It鈥檚 easy to request permission to reuse content. Simply to connect instantly to licensing services, where you can choose from a list of options regarding how you would like to reuse the desired content and complete the transaction.