Air pollution remains a silent killer in Massachusetts, responsible for an estimated 2,每年有780人死亡，海湾州的儿童因吸入空气中的细颗粒污染物而丧失了可测量的认知能力, according to a new study by researchers at Boston College’s Global Observatory on Planetary Health (formerly the BC Observatory on Pollution and Health).
这项电子游戏正规平台得到了巴尔基金会(Barr Foundation)的支持，是第一个以一个城镇为基础，对该州空气污染对公众健康的深远影响进行调查的电子游戏正规平台. Using the most recently available data from 2019, the researchers found air-pollution-related disease, 无论人口结构或收入水平如何，每个城镇都会发生死亡和智商下降. 死亡率最高的是经济上最弱势和社会服务不足的城镇.
电子游戏软件的电子游戏正规平台小组估计，2019年马萨诸塞州儿童认知发展的累积影响是损失了近200万个绩效智商点, or more than 2 IQ points for the average child, according to the report, published on July 17 in the journal Environmental Health. 电子游戏正规平台小组指出，智商下降会影响孩子的学习成绩，降低毕业率.
“我们谈论的是马萨诸塞州当地空气污染的影响，而不仅仅是全州范围,” said lead author Boston College Professor of Biology Philip J. Landrigan, M.D., director of the BC observatory. “这份报告让每个城镇的人们都有机会亲眼看到他们和家人呼吸的空气质量，以及空气污染对成人和儿童健康的危险影响。.”
“All of these health effects occurred at pollution levels below current EPA standards,” Landrigan noted.
The average level of fine particulate pollution across Massachusetts in 2019 was 6.3 micrograms per cubic meter, and levels ranged from a low of 2.77 micrograms per cubic meter in Worcester County to a high of 8.26 in Suffolk County. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standard is 12 micrograms per cubic meter, and the World Health Organization’s recommended guideline is 5.
“Clearly, current EPA air pollution standards are not adequately protecting public health,” Landrigan said.
Source: Boston College (CC BY-NC-ND)
Town-by-town air pollution information is not typically available, given there are not enough air quality monitoring stations in the state. 电子游戏正规平台小组利用现有数据和计算机模型确定了所有城镇的水平.
While Massachusetts meets federal clean air guidelines and air pollution in the U.S. 自20世纪70年代《电子游戏软件》通过以来(当时兰德里根和其他科学家成功地推动了从汽油中去除铅)，污染空气的含量已经下降了70%，但目前的污染空气水平仍然对健康个体和患有其他疾病的人构成健康危害.
“我们没有你在中国或印度看到的空气污染程度，因为它在今天基本上是看不见的，人们倾向于忘记空气污染，我们变得自满,” Landrigan said. “We hope to break through this complacency and increase awareness. Air pollution is killing 2,780 people in Massachusetts each year, nearly 5 percent of all deaths in the state, and that is a big deal. Air pollution is something we can fix. 我们知道需要采取哪些步骤来减少死亡人数以及对我们子孙后代的影响. 现在，英联邦每个城镇的公民都需要敦促我们的民选官员采取这些必要的步骤.”
Additional findings include:
- Of the 2,780 deaths attributable to air pollution in Massachusetts in 2019, at least 2,185 were due to lung cancer 1,677 to heart disease, 343 to chronic lung disease, and 200 to stroke.
- Air pollution was responsible for 15,386 cases of pediatric asthma and an estimated 308 low-birthweight babies (5.5 lbs. or less).
马萨诸塞州95%以上的空气污染来自化石燃料的燃烧. Cars, trucks, buses, planes, trains and ships produced two-thirds of pollutant emissions – 655,000 tons – in 2017, the most recent year for which data were available. Power plants, industrial facilities, and home heating and cooking produced 283,000 tons. In all, these sources emitted 938,000 tons of pollutants.
化石燃料燃烧也是导致全球气候变化的二氧化碳和其他温室气体的主要来源, 电子游戏正规平台人员表示，这将进一步激励马萨诸塞州通过转向更清洁的燃料来减少空气污染和温室气体排放.
“所有这些不利的健康影响都发生在细颗粒物污染水平低于美国标准的情况下.S. 环境保护局目前的年度标准是每立方米12微克. So even for a state like Massachusetts, which registered below that standard, air pollution is a formidable public health threat that needs urgently to be addressed.”
“Air pollution harms our environment and young people, and these burdens disproportionately impact environmental justice communities,” said Kathryn Wright, the Barr Foundation’s Senior Program Officer for Clean Energy. “对气候变化采取有意义的行动要求我们迅速解决交通和能源系统造成的空气污染及其许多有害影响.”
细颗粒物空气污染与成人的多种非传染性疾病有关, including cardiovascular disease, stroke, lung cancer and diabetes. Among infants and children air pollution increases risk for premature birth, low birthweight, stillbirth, impaired lung development, and asthma.
“所有这些不利的健康影响都发生在细颗粒物污染水平低于美国标准的情况下.S. 环境保护局目前的年度标准是每立方米12微克,” said Landrigan. “So even for a state like Massachusetts, which registered below that standard, air pollution is a formidable public health threat that needs urgently to be addressed.”
The report recommends the following solutions:
- City and town officials should convert their fleets to electric vehicles, install solar panels on public buildings, preferentially purchase green electricity, prohibit gas hook-ups in new construction, and revise building codes to increase energy efficiency.
- 马萨诸塞州当局必须敦促美国环境保护署收紧联邦细颗粒物污染空气质量标准，以更好地保护健康. 污染在法律允许的范围内导致马萨诸塞州居民患病和过早死亡，这是不可接受的.
- Massachusetts must set targets and timetables for reducing air pollution emissions.
- 马萨诸塞州环境保护部(DEP)必须增加更多的空气监测站，并优先将监测站安置在经济困难和社会脆弱的社区.
- The DEP must publish an annually updated, open-source air pollution emissions inventory
- 马萨诸塞州公共卫生部必须创建一个开放访问的仪表板，显示每个县与污染有关的疾病和死亡情况, city, and town in the Commonwealth.
- 马萨诸塞州和美国必须认识到天然气对健康和环境的重大影响，并减少对天然气发电和供暖的依赖.
- 马萨诸塞州和美国必须通过鼓励可再生能源和结束对化石燃料行业的税收减免和政府补贴，加速从化石燃料向风能和太阳能的过渡.
天文台开发了一个基于网络的应用程序，为该州351个城镇的空气污染影响提供了一个可搜索的数据库. It is available at py8f.secretsilm.com/masscleanair.
In addition to Landrigan, 《电子游戏软件》一文的合著者是电子游戏软件的电子游戏正规平台员萨曼莎·费舍尔, Lynch School of Education and Human Development Professor Maureen E. Kenny, Boston Children’s Hospital’s David Bellinger, and BC undergraduate researchers Brittney Gedeon, Luke Bryan, and Jenna Mu.
Ed Hayward | University Communications | July 2022