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Minneapolis,
Minn. – Everyone knows air pollution is bad for your health. Until
recently, it would have been hard to say exactly how bad. Now, scientists
have estimated the impact of air pollution on human lives in the Twin Cities.
A new report says that air pollution contributed to about 2,000 deaths, 400 hospitalizations, and 600
emergency-room visits in the Twin
Cities in 2008.
The report,
“Life and Breath: How Air Pollution in the Twin Cities Affects Public Health” is
being jointly released today the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA). The report analyzed MPCA air
quality data and health data from the MDH to estimate the effects of air
pollution on health outcomes for people living in the seven-county metro area.
Scientists used baseline data from 2008 to estimate health impacts of air
pollution. The report used data from 2008 because that was the most recent data
available which allowed for linking of air pollution levels and health outcomes.
“This report
helps us see much more clearly than we could before just who is affected by air
pollution, how serious the effects are and where we have health disparities
that need to be addressed,” said MDH Commissioner Ed Ehlinger. “This report
gives us a baseline by which we can measure the health impacts of future
reductions in air pollution.”
Breathing
polluted air can cause a variety of health problems. While air
quality in Minnesota is currently good and meets federal standards, even low
and moderate levels of air pollution can contribute to serious illnesses and
early death. The report estimates that in 2008, about six to 13 percent of all
residents in the seven-county Twin Cities metro area who died, and about two to
five percent who visited the hospital or emergency room for heart and lung
problems, did so because fine particles or ground-level ozone, the two air
pollutants with the most potential for direct harm to people’s health, made
their conditions worse.
To estimate
health impacts related to air pollution, the agencies looked at air quality
data and health outcomes data by ZIP codes in the Twin Cities metro area.
They then used mathematical modeling software to determine what portion of
disease was due to pollution.
“We can’t control Canadian wild
fires or who is burning coal around the world,” says MPCA Commissioner John
Linc Stine. “We can look at our own choices every day. We can choose the most
fuel efficient transportation we can afford or use mass transit. Small
steps really do add up. Air pollution is a day-in-day-out cumulative problem;
we can all make a positive impact with the daily choices we all make.”
The report
found little difference in average air pollution levels across ZIP codes.
The report does not
address the exposure of a particular individual, nor does it address health
impacts related to higher or lower exposures within ZIP codes or variations
over time. People in ZIP codes with more people of color and residents in
poverty show more public health effects from air pollution, primarily because
these populations already have higher rates of heart and lung conditions. They experience more hospitalizations,
emergency-room visits for asthma, and death related to air pollution. “Places
that have more elderly people with heart and lung conditions and children with
uncontrolled asthma are places where air pollution has a greater impact,” said
Ehlinger.
The
commissioners say newer data from 2014 suggest that air quality has improved
since 2008, but whether health outcomes also have improved is not yet
known. Scientists say it may be possible to update the study in the near
future.
The report
is available on a new multiagency website called BeAirAwareMN.org, designed to provide information
on air quality and how people can better help protect their health and the
environment.
Broadcast version
Scientists say air pollution contributes to 2,000 deaths,
400 hospitalizations, and 600 emergency room visits annually. That is according to a new report from the
Minnesota Department of Health and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency which estimates the impact of air pollution on public health in the Twin
Cities metro area.
The agencies analyzed health
outcomes and air pollution by ZIP code in the 7-county metro area. They found
that average air pollution levels didn’t differ much across the metro, but
groups most affected by the health impacts of air pollution were people of
color, the elderly, children with uncontrolled asthma and people in poverty.
More information on air quality and how people can protect their health is
available at "Be air aware-M-N-dot-org" (BeAirAwareMN.org)
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