[Green] Anti-Fracking group: Air pollution in Washington County

Wed Aug 29 18:24:18 CDT 2018

Dear Green Friends,

A woman who is active with the anti-fracking group in Athens has asked for our help regarding data on air quality in Washington County. I don’t know nuthin’ about such data, or even where or how to go about finding out. If you can help, please contact Heather Cantino directly. 

Note her second paragraph, which discusses Bob Chase and Marietta College! 

I hope you can help her. I sure can’t.

Thanks!

—dawn

> Begin forwarded message:
> 
> From: Heather Cantino <heather.cantino at gmail.com>
> Subject: questions re my Wayne submission (Packet #20: air pollution health impacts, including on vulnerable pop.)
> Date: August 29, 2018 at 5:05:37 PM EDT
> To: Dawn Hewitt <hewitt at earth-maker.com>
> 
> Hi Dawn,
> I've been putting together packets of research with commentary to send to the Wayne. This one will be on air pollution. I wanted to include some data on Washington County air quality. If you have some stats and commentary you can add to this, as someone who knows the field, as I do not!, that would be wonderful. If you're willing to also be a co-signer, that would be even better. I've been sending these on behalf of ACFAN, BEN (Buckeye Environmental Network, formerly Buckeye Forest Council) and two individuals who requested I submit for them too. Thanks for anything you can contribute to this comment letter. 
> 
> Also, of interest, I'm guessing: we've just learned that the Wayne has a $100,000 contract with Marietta College to assess impacts of fracking for their new plan development process. Bob Chase, though "retired," was specifically mentioned as a consultant, who may be getting $1000/hour from one possible reading of the attached contract -- we don't know if "unit" means "hour" in the budget for the consultant. Pretty shocking use of public money, wouldn't you say, especially since this is about the Wayne hiring someone in the industry to assess impacts of fracking for the public agency!
> 
> #1: Air Pollution and Mortality in the Medicare Population, Qian Di, M.S., et al., N Engl J Med 2017; 376:2513-2522, DOI:10.1056/NEJMoa1702747, June 29, 2017
>  https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa1702747 <https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa1702747>: 
> 
> "Background: Studies have shown that long-term exposure to air pollution increases mortality. However, evidence is limited for air-pollution levels below the most recent National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Previous studies involved predominantly urban populations and did not have the statistical power to estimate the health effects in underrepresented groups.
> 
> "Results: Increases of 10 μg per cubic meter in PM2.5 and of 10 ppb in ozone were associated with increases in all-cause mortality of 7.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 7.1 to 7.5) and 1.1% (95% CI, 1.0 to 1.2), respectively. When the analysis was restricted to person-years with exposure to PM2.5 of less than 12 μg per cubic meter and ozone of less than 50 ppb, the same increases in PM2.5 and ozone were associated with increases in the risk of death of 13.6% (95% CI, 13.1 to 14.1) and 1.0% (95% CI, 0.9 to 1.1), respectively. For PM2.5, the risk of death among men, blacks, and people with Medicaid eligibility was higher than that in the rest of the population.
> 
> "Conclusions: In the entire Medicare population, there was significant evidence of adverse effects related to exposure to PM2.5 and ozone at concentrations below current national standards. This effect was most pronounced among self-identified racial minorities and people with low income. (Supported by the Health Effects Institute and others.)"
> 
> NOTE the map of air pollution particulate levels and ozone in relation to the location of the Wayne. This is clearly an issue the Wayne team must address in considering any fracking or ATV activity to be included in a new Plan!
> #2:
> 
> Joshua S. Apte <https://pubs.acs.org/author/Apte%2C+Joshua+S> et al.,
> Ambient PM2.5 Reduces Global and Regional Life Expectancy, Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett.,  
> 
> DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.8b00360, Pub (web): August 22, 2018  https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1021/acs.estlett.8b00360 <https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1021/acs.estlett.8b00360>:
> 
> "Exposure to ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution is a major risk for premature death. Here, we systematically quantify the global impact of PM2.5 on life expectancy. Using data from the Global Burden of Disease project and actuarial standard life table methods, we estimate global and national decrements in life expectancy that can be attributed to ambient PM2.5 for 185 countries. In 2016, PM2.5 exposure reduced average global life expectancy at birth by ∼1 year with reductions of ∼1.2–1.9 years in polluted countries of Asia and Africa. If PM2.5 in all countries met the World Health Organization Air Quality Guideline (10 μg m–3), we estimate life expectancy could increase by a population-weighted median of 0.6 year (interquartile range of 0.2–1.0 year), a benefit of a magnitude similar to that of eradicating lung and breast cancer. Because background disease rates modulate the effect of air pollution on life expectancy, high age-specific rates of cardiovascular disease in many polluted low- and middle-income countries amplify the impact of PM2.5 on survival. Our analysis adds to prior research by illustrating how mortality from air pollution substantially reduces human longevity."
> 
> Please let me know you receive this. There is no longer an Aug. 30 deadline. Now they're denying there ever was one! Thanks and best to you, Heather
> 

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