=======================Electronic Edition========================
RACHEL’S HAZARDOUS WASTE NEWS #136
—July 4, 1989—
News and resources for environmental justice.
——
Environmental Research Foundation
P.O. Box 5036, Annapolis, MD 21403
Fax (410) 263-8944; Internet: erf@igc.apc.org
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FINE PARTICLES–PART 4: HARM TO HUMANS: SOLID EVIDENCE.
Small particles (ash, soot, smoke) in the air, even in amounts
that are legal, can harm human health. This fact was emphasized
dramatically by events in the Utah Valley near Provo, UT during
the period April, 1985, to February, 1988, when a steel mill
closed and then reopened. The steel mill was the source of 82% of
all the small particles in the local atmosphere, and a researcher
at Brigham Young University, Dr. C. Arden Pope, studied hospital
admissions for pneumonia, pleurisy, bronchitis, and asthma with
the steel mill closed and with the steel mill open. Opening of
the mill coincided with a dramatic increase in hospital
admissions for these respiratory ailments, especially among
children.
Douglas Dockery [see RHWN #134] at the Harvard University School
of Public Health called this “a landmark study,” when it appeared
in the AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH in May, 1989. In
epidemiology, he explained, “you look for unique situations where
there is a natural experiment going on.” The Utah Valley from
1985 to 1987 provided such an experimental setting.
The Utah Valley is an especially good place to study the effects
of air pollution on human health because only 5.5% of the 258,000
adults (18 and older) who reside there smoke tobacco, about
one-fourth the national average; smoking is strongly discouraged
by the Mormon church.
At times, pollution is very noticeable in the Valley. During
winter 1985-86, in a random survey of Valley residents, 29% said
they had one or more family members with health problems
aggravated by air pollution.
Admissions data from three local hospitals were collected for the
period April, 1985, to February, 1988. Emergency and outpatient
care were not included, so this study only counted people sick
enough to be admitted into the hospital.
Particles in the atmosphere were measured as PM-10 (particulate
matter 10 micrometers or less in diameter), which is U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency’s standard measure for particles
in air.
The EPA’s allowable limit on PM-10 pollution is a 24-hour average
of 150 micrograms of particles per cubic meter of air; higher
than that violates the standard. (A microgram is a millionth of a
gram and there are 28 grams in an ounce. A meter is approximately
a yard.) The allowable annual average is 50 micrograms per cubic
meter of air.
Dr. Pope looked at the data four ways. First he compared hospital
admissions during those months when the 24-hour PM10 standard was
exceeded one or more times, versus hospital admissions during
months when the standard was not exceeded. During the four months
when the 24-hour standard was exceeded, admissions of children
(0-17 years of age) nearly tripled compared to admissions during
the 31 months when the 24-hour standard was not exceeded. During
months when the 24hour standard was exceeded, adult hospital
admissions rose 44%, compared to months when the standard was not
exceeded.
Dr. Pope next compared hospital admissions during eight high
months when the average (mean) PM-10 levels exceeded 50
micrograms per cubic meter of air versus admissions during 27 low
months when average PM-10 levels never exceeded 50 micrograms per
cubic meter. During high months, hospital admissions for children
doubled, compared to low months, and adult admissions increased
by 47%.
Dr. Pope then compared hospital admissions during periods when
the steel mill was open versus when it was closed. During winter
months, children’s hospital admissions tripled when the steel
mill was open, compared to winter months when it was closed.
During fall months, children’s admissions doubled when the steel
mill was open, compared to fall months when it was closed.
The fourth technique, called regression analysis, created a
mathematical model of the relationship between PM-10 pollution
levels and hospital admissions for chest ailments. The model
showed a very strong correlation between pollution and hospital
admissions.
Strong correlations do not prove a cause and effect relationship.
It is always possible that a third variable (such as a flu
epidemic) coincided by chance with the opening of the steel mill.
To try to rule out such extraneous events, Dr. Pope studied
admissions at a “control” group of Utah hospitals outside the
Utah Valley and he could find no similar effects related to
either PM-10 levels or to the opening or closing of the steel
mill. He was also unable to find a relationship with the cold
winter weather, and he was able to rule out an epidemic of
contagious illness (such as flu) as a cause of the peaks in
hospital admissions.
“The results indicated that hospital admissions for respiratory
illnesses were strongly associated with PM-10 levels. This
association is much stronger for children than adults, and is
somewhat stronger for asthma and bronchitis than for pneumonia
and pleurisy,” Dr. Pope concluded.
It is important to note that “increased admissions for children
are observed even for months when PM-10 did not exceed 150
micrograms per cubic meter, suggesting that this standard may not
be adequate protection for some children,” Dr. Pope concludes.
The federal standard is not adequate to protect children.
In fact, the EPA itself admitted, when it published the PM-10
standard, there is evidence that NO levels of fine particle
pollution are safe, especially for children. The EPA said, “The
data do not provide evidence of clear thresholds in exposed
populations. Instead, they suggest a continuum of response for a
given number of exposed individuals with both the likelihood
(risk) of any effects occurring AND the extent (incidence and
severity) of any potential effect decreasing with concentration.”
[See FEDERAL REGISTER, Vol. 126 (July 1, 1987), pg. 24642;
emphasis in the original.] The absence of a threshold means that
ANY exposure to fine particles will take its toll on the health
of the exposed population. The fine particles produced by every
incinerator are harmful to humans, especially to children. The
cumulative evidence is now overwhelming and has been ignored for
too long by the promoters of incineration. It’s time they were
forced to confront the consequences of their dangerous technology.
Get: C. Arden Pope III, “Respiratory Disease Associated With
Community Air Pollution and a Steel Mill, Utah Valley,” AMERICAN
JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Vol. 79 (May, 1989), pgs. 623-628. For
a free reprint, contact Dr. Pope, Associate Professor of Natural
Resources and Environmental Economics, Brigham Young University,
Provo, UT 84602; phone (801) 378-2157.
–Peter Montague, Ph.D.
Descriptor terms: ut; steel mills; health effects; brigham young
university; studies; air quality; qir pollution; epa policies;
regulations; standards; children; adults; particulates;