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September 17,
2002-13
Copyright © 2002 Earth Policy Institute
Air Pollution Fatalities Now Exceed Traffic Fatalities by 3 to 1
Bernie
Fischlowitz-Roberts
The World Health Organization reports that 3 million people now
die each year from the effects of air pollution. This is three times
the 1 million who die each year in automobile accidents. A study
published in The Lancet in 2000 concluded that air pollution
in France, Austria, and Switzerland is responsible for more than
40,000 deaths annually in those three countries. About half of these
deaths can be traced to air pollution from vehicle emissions.
In the United States, traffic fatalities
total just over 40,000 per year, while air pollution claims 70,000
lives annually. U.S. air pollution deaths are equal to deaths from
breast cancer and prostate cancer combined. This scourge of cities
in industrial and developing countries alike threatens the health
of billions of people.
Governments go to great lengths to reduce
traffic accidents by fining those who drive at dangerous speeds,
arresting those who drive under the influence of alcohol, and even
sometimes revoking drivers' licenses. But they pay much less attention
to the deaths people cause by simply driving the cars. While deaths
from heart disease and respiratory illness from breathing polluted
air may lack the drama of deaths from an automobile crash, with
flashing lights and sirens, they are no less real.
Air pollutants include carbon monoxide,
ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulates. These
pollutants come primarily from the combustion of fossil fuels, principally
coal-fired power plants and gasoline-powered automobiles. Nitrogen
oxides can lead to the formation of ground-level ozone. Particulates
are emitted from a variety of sources, primarily diesel engines.
"Smog"-a hybrid word used to describe the mixture of smoke and fog
that blankets some cities-is primarily composed of ozone and particulates.
The air in most urban areas typically contains
a mixture of pollutants, each of which may increase a person's vulnerability
to the effects of the others. Exposure to carbon monoxide slows
reflexes and causes drowsiness, since carbon monoxide molecules
bind to hemoglobin, reducing the amount of oxygen that red blood
cells can carry. Nitrogen dioxide can aggravate asthma and reduce
lung function, as well as making airways more sensitive to allergens.
Ozone also causes lung inflammation and reduces lung function and
exercise capacity.
Smaller particulates, especially those 10
micrometers in diameter (1/2,400 of an inch) or smaller, can become
lodged in the alveolar sacs of the lungs. They are associated with
higher admissions to hospital for respiratory problems and with
increased mortality, particularly from respiratory and cardiovascular
diseases. As particulate concentrations in the air rise, so do death
rates.
When people inhale particulates and ozone
at concentrations commonly found in urban areas, their arteries
become more constricted, thus reducing blood flow and oxygen supply
to the heart. This is why air pollution aggravates heart conditions
and asthma.
Unlike some pollutants that have threshold
levels below which no health effects are seen, ozone and particulates
have negative health effects even at very low levels. Thus no "safe"
level of such pollutants exists. Research published in Science
in 2001 noted that in industrial as well as developing countries,
exposures to current levels of ozone and particulates "affect death
rates, hospitalizations and medical visits, complications of asthma
and bronchitis, days of work lost, restricted-activity days, and
a variety of measures of lung damage."
While these affect health care systems,
they also take a toll on the economy. The increased monetary expenses
related to air pollution induced illness include the costs of medication,
absences from work, and child care expenses. In the Canadian province
of Ontario, for example, which has a population of 11.9 million,
air pollution costs citizens at least $1 billion annually in hospital
admissions, emergency room visits, and worker absenteeism. According
to the World Bank, the social costs of exposure to airborne dust
and lead in Jakarta, Bangkok, and Manila approached 10 percent of
average incomes in the early 1990s. In China, which has some of
the world's worst urban air pollution, the illnesses and deaths
of urban residents due to air pollution are estimated to cost 5
percent of the gross domestic product.
The economic costs of air pollution argue
for reducing income taxes and raising taxes on fossil fuels. This
would encourage more efficient fuel use, a shift to clean energy
sources, and the adoption of pollution controls. The alternative
is to spend more on health insurance to treat air pollution-related
ailments. Raising the costs of polluting fuels will reduce suffering
and premature death.
In response to traffic congestion and their
notorious air pollution problems, Mexico City and Săo Paulo restrict
people from driving on certain days of the week, based on the last
digit on their license plates. And Bogotá, Colombia, has
put in place a series of measures to reduce air pollution from transportation;
in the process, it has become a more livable city. Since 1995, the
city has reduced traffic during rush hours by 40 percent and increased
the gasoline tax. Some 120 kilometers (75 miles) of main arteries
are closed for seven hours each Sunday, which allows the streets
to be used for walking, bicycling, and jogging.
The solutions to urban air pollution are
not difficult to discern. Individuals can reduce car usage in favor
of cycling, walking, and mass transit and can use more fuel-efficient
cars. Urban planning commissions and regional governments can redirect
transportation funding toward mass transit options: light rail,
heavy rail, or rapid bus transit.
Zoning laws and other regulatory tools can
be used to encourage the higher density development that is conducive
to mass transit. And countries can shift electricity generation
from coal and natural gas toward wind and solar power, using the
lever of government subsidies and tax incentives for clean energy,
rather than continuing to subsidize fossil fuels.
When purchasing a new car, consumers typically
consider price, extra features, safety, and sometimes fuel economy.
The fact that air pollution fatalities substantially exceed traffic
fatalities worldwide suggests the need to broadly redefine notions
of safety to include the goal of decreasing air pollution. While
only some motorists contribute to traffic fatalities, all motorists
contribute to air pollution fatalities.
See
Urban Actions to Reduce Air Pollution
Copyright
© 2002 Earth Policy Institute
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FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
From Earth Policy Institute
Lester R. Brown, Eco-Economy:
Building an Economy for the Earth (New York: W.W. Norton
& Company, 2001).
From Other Sources
Ontario Medical Association, The
Illness Costs of Air Pollution in Ontario (Toronto: OMA),
June 2000.
Ontario Medical Association, Ground
Level Ozone Position Paper (Toronto: OMA), 1998.
N. Künzli et al., "Public-health impact of outdoor
and traffic-related air pollution: a European assessment," The
Lancet, 2 September 2000, Vol. 356, pp. 795-801.
LINKS
Environmental Protection Agency: Air Pollution
http://www.epa.gov/ebtpages/
air.html
American Lung Association: Air Quality
http://www.lungusa.org/air
National Resources Defense Council: Air Pollution
http://www.nrdc.org/air/
pollution
Sierra Club Clean Air Program http://www.sierraclub.org/
cleanair
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