Dirty Air Kills More Americans Than Fentanyl

Jan 14

Dirty air killed 100,000 Americans last year!(1) This is a tragedy for our country.

The American Lung Association says, “pollution does not just make people die a few days earlier than they might otherwise - in many cases these deaths would not have occurred for years if the air were cleaner.”(2)

Air pollution increases hospitalizations for heart attack and stroke, COPD, and severe childhood asthma attacks. It raises the likelihood of miscarriage and infant deaths, reduced lung function in children, lung cancer, diabetes, and Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.(3) In addition to the personal tragedies of illness and early death, the medical costs of dirty air are staggering.

Fentanyl killed 75,000 Americans in 2023!(4) This is also a tragedy. Polling by Ipsos shows fentanyl is the #1 perceived health risk of Americans.(5)

Republican presidential candidates have noticed the voters’ concerns about fentanyl, and some have proposed US military action in Mexico(6) or suspending normal trade relations with China until they stop shipping the chemicals used to make fentanyl to Mexican drug gangs.(7) President Biden is applying pressure on China to stop the shipments of fentanyl precursors.(8)

However, despite the higher death rate from air pollution we are not hearing much from politicians on polluted air.

Republican presidential candidates are not mentioning dirty air. Some are pushing for increased burning of fossil fuels, which will lead to more pollution and more deaths.

Democratic politicians seem more concerned about climate change than dirty air. The EPA has not enacted stricter air pollution standards since 2012(9) despite having Democratic presidents from 2012 - 2017 and since 2021.

Perhaps the politicians believe that existing air pollution laws and regulations are sufficient, but medical organizations disagree. The American Thoracic Society estimates that modestly stricter EPA standards could save 21,300 lives and prevent 3000 cases of lung cancer, 10,600 preterm or low weight births, and 748,660 cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses each year.(10) The American Medical Association(11) and the American Lung Association(12) are also calling for stricter standards.

A Lung Association poll showed that Americans are very concerned about air pollution, with 72% wanting stricter government standards on air pollution, particularly for soot and other particulate pollution.(13) This polling also demonstrated that people across the political spectrum want cleaner air.

Politicians respond to voters’ concerns, but they must know about those concerns. Please tell your politicians that you want them to advocate for cleaner air. You can find their contact information on their websites or email info@movefasterenv.org for help.

Air Pollution Sources

The most dangerous types of air pollution are particulates and ozone.

Particulate pollution (also known as PM2.5 and PM0.1)

Particulate pollution is very small particles or droplets that can get into your lungs and bloodstream. Sources include soot from burning oil (diesel and gasoline) in cars, trucks, and buses, soot from burning coal and oil in power plants, factories, wildfires, and agricultural dust. Nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulfur dioxide from burning fossil fuels can combine with water vapor and other gasses to form small droplets of acid.(14)

Ozone

Ozone is a form of oxygen that is very reactive and causes oxidative damage to our throats and lungs. Ozone is formed in the lower atmosphere by chemical reactions between nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Nitrogen oxides are formed during high-temperature combustion of natural gas, gasoline or diesel fuel, or coal. VOCs come from motor vehicles, factories, oil and gas drilling and refining, gas stations, and evaporating solvents.(15)