Air pollution and early deaths in the United States. Part I: Quantifying the impact of major sectors in 2005
- Abstract
Highlights •Ozone and PM impacts of the major combustion sectors in the U.S. are modeled. •Early deaths attributable to each sector are estimated. •∼200,000 early deaths occur in the U.S. each year due to U.S. combustion emissions. •The leading causes are road transportation and power generation. Abstract: Combustion emissions adversely impact air quality and human health. A multiscale air quality model is applied to assess the health impacts of major emissions sectors in United States. Emissions are classified according to six different sources: electric power generation, industry, commercial and residential sources, road transportation, marine transportation and rail transportation. Epidemiological evidence is used to relate long-term population exposure to sector-induced changes in the concentrations of PM2.5 and ozone to incidences of premature death. Total combustion emissions in the U.S. account for about 200,000 (90% CI: 90,000–362,000) premature deaths per year in the U.S. due to changes in PM2.5 concentrations, and about 10,000 (90% CI: −1000 to 21,000) deaths due to changes in ozone concentrations. The largest contributors for both pollutant-related mortalities are road transportation, causing ∼53,000 (90% CI: 24,000–95,000) PM2.5-related deaths and ∼5000 (90% CI: −900 to 11,000) ozone-related early deaths per year, and power generation, causing ∼52,000 (90% CI: 23,000–94,000) PM2.5-related and ∼2000 (90% CI: −300 to 4000) ozone-related premature mortalities per year. Industrial emissions contribute to ∼41,000 (90% CI: 18,000–74,000) early deaths from PM2.5 and ∼2000 (90% CI: 0–4000) early deaths from ozone. The results are indicative of the extent to which policy measures could be undertaken in order to mitigate the impact of specific emissions from different sectors — in particular black carbon emissions from road transportation and sulfur dioxide emissions from power generation.
- Resource Type
- Peer-reviewed article
- Authors
- Fabio Caiazzo Akshay Ashok Ian A. Waitz Steve H.L. Yim Steven R.H. Barrett
- Publication
- Atmospheric Environment
- Volume
- 79
- Pages
- 198-208
- Date
- Nov 2013
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2013.05.081
- ISSN
- 13522310
- Short Title
- Air pollution and early deaths in the United States. Part I
- Climate and Environmental Impact
- Air pollution
- Emission Sources
- Conventional energy Other industry Transportation Energy Conventional
- GHG
- Black carbon