7 Million Deaths Linked To Air Pollution In 2012 Says New Report By World Health Organization

The United Nations’ World Health Organization (WHO) just released a shocking report linking severe air pollution – both indoor and outdoor combined – to about seven million deaths across the globe in 2012.

“This finding more than doubles previous estimates and confirms that air pollution is now the world’s largest single environmental health risk,” said WHO.

In the case of outdoor air pollution, a report by the UN’s World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that “there were 3.7 million deaths in 2012 from urban and rural sources worldwide.” Photo courtesy of Clear The Air New Blog.

The health organization said that the new data shows “a strong link between both indoor and outdoor air pollution exposure and cardiovascular diseases, such as strokes and ischaemic (coronary) heart disease, as well as between air pollution and cancer.

“This is in addition to air pollution’s role in the development of respiratory diseases, including acute respiratory infections and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD).” The estimates were based on WHO mortality data from 2012 associated with conditions related to exposure to air pollution.

Looking at indoor air pollution worldwide, the health organization estimated that indoor air pollution was linked to about 4.3 million deaths in 2012, which was related to “households cooking over coal, wood, and biomass stoves.”

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Study Finds Communities Exposed To Fracking Have More Fetal and Childhood Health Problems

As the oil and gas industry look for ever cheaper ways to extract resources from deeper pockets of shale, communities are increasingly taking measures to battling back with restrictions, bans, and moratoriums against controversial extraction practices known as fracking.

Fracking, also called hydraulic fracturing or hydrofracking, is the process of forcing a mixture of freshwater and toxic chemicals under high pressure into a well, enlarging the rock fracture to increase the extraction of oil and gas.

Anti-fracking protesters on the march in Pennsylvania. Photo courtesy of the Huffington Post.

The Center for Environmental Health (CEH) reports that fracking exposes communities – among the most vulnerable being pregnant women, their unborn fetuses, and young children – to a cocktail of chemicals and substances, including: methane, BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes), arsenic, radium, ozone, formaldehyde, radon, nitrogen oxides, methylene chloride, and silica sand.

“These substances are associated with low birth weight, birth defects, respiratory problems, cancer and fertility problems, said the CEH in a report that looked at the health and social effects on communities when fracking is introduced.

The report specifically focused air and water pollution associated with fracking, as well as the social impacts. Focusing on the sheer pollution, it found that “every part of the fracking process” from well construction to operations to transportation can threaten the health of a community.

The report found that pollution can occur in several ways, including from the production and transporting of materials to and from development sites (such as sand mining and trucking wastewater); emissions from drilling and fracking equipment; and equipment used in gas production, processing, transmission, and distribution.

Some of the chemicals that have leached into drinking water from tight oil and shale development sites, include: methane, BTEX, arsenic, and radium. Each of these chemicals have their own particular sort of threat to nearby human populations.

Methane can be flammable and explosive, and when trapped in confined spaces, like a home or garage, can cause suffocation, unconsciousness, and death. For residents near fracking sites, this is a real concern because of the likely direct impacts to them.

The CEH found in a study of 68 drinking wells in Pennsylvania and New York that methane contamination rose significantly with increasing proximity to fracking sites.

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EPA Adds New Clean Air Regulations Despite U.S. Congressional Opposition

Despite some recent semi-successful congressional attempts to limit clean air regulations, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has just finalized the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, which is designed to prevent the drift of harmful, airborne pollutants from one state to another.

Dan Lajiness protests in Houston, Texas. Photo from1999 Smog Jog.

“Nationwide, the transport rule will cut millions of tons of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide pollution from power plants – emissions resulting in dangerous soot and smog in the air we’re breathing,” said EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson in remarks.

Jackson defended the need for the new rule, saying, “By reducing this ozone and particle pollution, which is linked to costly and life-threatening health problems, such as asthma, heart attacks, and premature deaths, we anticipate up to $280 billion in annual benefits (from reduced healthcare costs).”

Republicans are crying their usual mantra that anything that helps the environment will kill jobs. Republican Texas House Representative Bryan Hughes issued a statement on the Cross-State Pollution Rule, saying, “It’s no wonder that fewer and fewer people trust the federal government. If the EPA is allowed to implement this new rule, they will kill hundreds of jobs, raise the cost of electricity, and could even cause blackouts in electrical service.”

Hughes went on to say, “I spoke with officials at the Texas Attorney General’s Office to ask them for help, and I am happy to report that they are already on the job. They’ve filed papers directly with the EPA to challenge this power-grab. The next step will be to bring a case against the EPA in federal court.”

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Health Risks Rising as Obesity Rates Triple Among Young Americans

Condiments containing lipids - fats and cholesterols. Stock photo.

It’s easy to look around and see that obesity rates are on the rise. The shocker is by how much and how fast.

In the past three decades, obesity among young American has increased from five percent to more than 17 percent, according to Ashleigh May, an epidemic intelligence officer in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s division for heart disease and stroke prevention.

“Overweight and obese young people are at far greater risk of having abnormal lipid levels than young people with normal weights,” said Ms. May, commenting the agency’s latest report - Recommended Community Strategies and Measurements to Prevent Obesity in the United States.

Lipids are basically fats, such as triglyceride and steroids, like cholesterol. “Abnormal lipid levels are major risk factors for heart disease,” said Ms. May, adding that, “typically heart disease develops in adulthood, but its risk factors - such as abnormal lipid levels, and being overweight or obese - often emerge during childhood or adolescence.”

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Aluminum Recycler Forced to Clean Up its Act

Aluminum smelter photo courtesy of International Rivers.

Showing that the federal and state governments won’t sit idly by while the aluminum industry pumps pollutants into the environment, the U.S. Justice Department in conjunction with 11 states have negotiated a consent decree with Aleris International Inc., requiring the Beachwood, Ohio-based aluminum recycler to pay a $4.6 million civil penalty to resolve violations to the Clean Air Act.

As part of the settlement, Aleris and 13 of its subsidiaries have committed to implementing environmental improvements and controls projected to cost about $4.2 million in the 11 affected locations (Goodyear, Ariz., Post Falls, Idaho, Chicago Heights, Ill., Wabash, Ind., Lewisport and Morgantown, Ky., Coldwater and Saginaw, Mich., Uhrichville, Ohio, Sapulpa, Okla., Loudon and Shelbyville, Tenn., Richmond, Va., and Friendly, W. Va.)

“This settlement, including the significant penalty, will help to protect human health and the environment by brining one of the country’s largest aluminum companies into compliance with the Clean Air Act’s rules for the industry,” said John C. Cruden, acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s environmental and natural resources division.

“It will also serve as a notice to the rest of the industry that we will vigorously enforce the Act and rules,” added Mr. Cruden.

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