Low-Level Ozone Exposure Deadly Over Time

Burning fossil fuels is killing us

An American Cancer Society study of nearly 500,000 people that has been in progress for the past 18 years cannot be ignored. If we turn a blind eye, we do so at our own peril. So long as we continue to depend upon fossil fuels for transportation, commerce and everyday living, every breath we take brings us closer to our deaths. That’s an installment loan that can never be repaid.

Thomas Maugh reports for the Los Angeles Times that increased ozone levels in the air are directly related to death from respiratory illnesses, not just short-term effects. Death from cardiovascular diseases are not related to ozone levels, but other types of air pollution.

Ozone?

Ozone is a colorless gas that is considered a secondary pollutant according to http://www.greenfacts.org/glossary/pqrs/primary-pollutant-secondary-pollutant.htm. Nitrogen oxides produced by fossil fuel combustion react in sunlight and become ozone. This process occurs most in large cities and urban-industrial areas where sun and warm temperatures are the norm.

Ozone reacts with lung cells, causing “inflammation and other effects that lead to premature aging,” writes Maugh. The study has shown that this increases the yearly risk of death from respiratory illnesses from 40 to 50 percent in poor air quality areas like Los Angeles and Riverside, California. The rest of the country has a 25 percent greater chance of dying from ozone diseases. Low-level exposure over the course of a year is dangerous.

The numbers are staggering

Current health standards for ozone pollution cover only eight-hour averages. However, Maugh points out that even under that “relaxed” standard, “345 counties with a total population of more than 100 million people are out of compliance.”

In America, respiratory diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema and pneumonia account for 8.5 percent of deaths, about 240,000 yearly. Worldwide, that number increases to 7.7 million dead.

According to the New England Journal of Medicine, “448,850 people over age 18 from 96 metro areas participated in the American Cancer Society studies in 1982 and 1983. The subjects were then tracked for an average of 18 years. During that follow-up period, there were 48,884 deaths, 9,891 of them from respiratory diseases.”

An equal-opportunity killer

Study coauthor Michael Jerrett of UC Berkeley concluded that “We do know that ozone is particularly dangerous for people living with existing asthma or lung disease” Weight, income or education don’t seem to be significant indicators. “It seems to affect a lot of people relatively equally.”

Isn’t this all the more reason for the world to push harder for vehicles and industry that use safer fuels? We cannot continue to risk our lifeblood on petroleum.

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