Uranium fuel, nuclear reactors, generation, spent fuel. To compare continuous and categorical characteristics for participants with and without the 3 adverse birth outcomes, we performed t tests and 2 tests. Bremner et al. The percentage of plants located in or near communitieswithan average of less than the national average is on the left side of the graph (blue). All rights reserved. Neuberger . Power Plants and Neighboring Communities (xlsx) It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide, This PDF is available to Subscribers Only. et al. The percentage of plants located in or near communities with an average greater than the national average is on the right side of the graph (green). If you would like to learn more about these key demographicsor further explore relationships between power plants and environmental justice, investigate EPA's EJSCREEN. Cons. Thanks to the Northeast Ohio Gas Accountability Project (NEOGAP) for this information. In populous cities, the percentage of deaths attributable to PM2.5 and ozone ranges from 3.5% in San Jose to 10% in Los Angeles (both in California) (9). In categorical exposure analyses, no association was found. Zou Additionally, we were not able to identify critical windows of exposure that underlie these associations. The electric power sector is a large source of U.S. CO 2 emissions. et al. Ha The term LBW was defined as a birth weighing less than 2,500 g at birth and born at or after 37 weeks of gestation. Many plants meet or exceed this threshold for more than one key demographic and are included in the counts of more than one demographic. JL Therefore, this discrepancy is likely to bias our results toward the null. The type of nearest power plant was also identified by fuel type. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. D The American Lung Association has estimated that pollution specifically from power plants is responsible for approximately 13,000 excess deaths annually in the United States (14). DM State Disclosures, Senior Advocate, Dirty Energy, Lands Division, Nature Program. TA Natural gas is burned to generate electricity by passing hot pressurized gases through either a combined-cycle combustion turbine (CCCT) or simple-cycle combustion turbine (SCCT) connected to an electric generator. Characteristics and risk factors for adverse birth outcomes in pregnant black adolescents, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Factors associated with negative birth outcomes: findings from a birth cohort study, A case study of the relative effects of power plant nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide emission reductions on atmospheric nitrogen deposition, Residential mobility during pregnancy and the potential for ambient air pollution exposure misclassification, Impact of residential mobility on exposure assessment in longitudinal air pollution studies: a sensitivity analysis within the ESCAPE Project. ML We obtained the odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the increase in odds of having adverse birth outcomes for each 5 km closer to any power plant. These steps and processes may be integrated into one unit or operation, be performed in a different order or at alternative locations (such as a (lease separator, field facilities, or natural gas processing plants), or not be required at all. In general, PM2.5 concentrations tend to cluster around areas with more power plants (Figure1). For VPTD, only oil and solid waste plants had significant associations. Mark Specht is the Western States Energy Manager/Senior Analyst for the Climate & Energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. By continuing, you accept our use of cookies. Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. At this point you might be wondering, So how bad is it? Natural gas is stored in large volumes in underground facilities and in smaller volumes in tanks above or below ground. J Association Between Proximity to Power Plants and Adverse Birth Outcomes in Florida From 2004 to 2005. A X et al. C We unfortunately did not have residential mobility information to address this issue. When stratified by type of plants in order to compare birth outcomes among women who lived close to or farther from different types of power plants, our data showed that solid waste plants had associations with all adverse birth outcomes. These pollutants are known to contribute to adverse health outcomes, including the development of heart or lung diseases, such as asthma and bronchitis, increased susceptibility to respiratory and cardiac symptoms, greater numbers of emergency room visits and hospital admissions, and premature deaths. Martinez Those who were closest to nuclear plants (mean = 7.7 (SD, 1.9) g/m3) and other plants (mean = 8.5 (SD, 2.0) g/m3) were exposed to the lowest levels of PM2.5 (Figure2B; Supplementary Data). AD Time is Running Out, Motorola's handy Bluetooth device adds satellite messaging to your iPhone or Android smartphone, Linux 6.2: The first mainstream Linux kernel for Apple M1 chips arrives, Sony's new headphones adopt WH-1000XM5 technology for less than half the price, The perfectly pointless $197 gadget that some people will love. H Zhang Moreover, there is recent evidence suggesting that harmful emissions from power plants may be increasing (16). Prenatal exposure was assigned to each birth as the average daily PM2.5 concentration over the first trimester for the grid in which it falls. However, in addition to adjustment for maternal education, which serves as a proxy for socioeconomic status, we also adjusted for census-tract-level median household income from the US Census 2000 to control for ecological (or population-level) socioeconomic status factors. Closing large fossil fuel-fired plants may have immediate and lasting effects on the surrounding communities and should be considered when evaluating a community's future potential vulnerability for environmental justice concerns. Steve Clemmer We wish to thank the Florida Department of Health for supplying the data. Specifically, for each 5-km decrease in the distance to any power plant, the odds of term LBW, PTD, and VPTD increased by 1.1% (odds ratio (OR) = 1.011, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.002, 1.020), 1.8% (OR = 1.018, 95% CI: 1.013, 1.023), and 2.2% (OR = 1.022, 95% CI: 1.010, 1.034), respectively. a Adjusted for maternal age, maternal race, marital status, census block group income, and urban neighborhood. Accessed March 8, 2014, Combining different sources of particulate data using Bayesian space-time modeling, First trimester exposure to ambient air pollution, pregnancy complications and adverse birth outcomes in Allegheny County, PA, Electric power annual: emission from energy consumption at conventional power plants and combined-heat-and-power plants 20022012, Published December 12, 2013. All types of plants had a slightly elevated association with PTD, except nuclear plants, which had a negative association (OR = 0.90, 95% CI: 0.86, 0.95), and others and coal plants with no associations. et al. WebFar safer than living near a coal burning plant or downstream from a major dam. Natural gas power plants emit more NOx when they are starting up; on average, they emit anywhere between three and seven times as much NOx during start-up than during one hour of full-load operation. When hydrogen is added to the natural gas fuel mix, the carbon emissions fall even more. A Webselection of safety distance can prevent optimum utilisation of available space. Sandie Ha, Hui Hu, Jeffrey Roth, Haidong Kan, Xiaohui Xu, Associations Between Residential Proximity to Power Plants and Adverse Birth Outcomes, American Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 182, Issue 3, 1 August 2015, Pages 215224, https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwv042. However, we have also used a fully adjusted model with all covariates in our directed acyclic graph. Czeizel The fact of the matter is that natural gas power plants still produce a significant amount of air pollution, and thats a problem. Catov Graphs below summarize the key demographics ofcommunities within three miles ofpower plants. Something ignited the gas that was being used in a scheduled cleaning procedure at the Kleen Energy Plant in Connecticut. et al. H In the categorical exposure analyses, we made a fundamental assumption that each power plant has a uniform effect on participants within a certain buffer. Xu This work was supported by grant K01ES019177 from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (X.X.) Wang Recurring messages. Lesson plans, science fair experiments, field trips, teacher guide, and career corner. More research is warranted to better understand the causal relationship. Geographical distribution of power plants and average annual levels of particulate matter less than 2.5 m in diameter (PM2.5) in Florida during the study period from 2003 to 2005. Roberts Fig. ML . Sales, revenue and prices, power plants, fuel use, stocks, generation, trade, demand & emissions. update email soon. Strmgren HS According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, power plants release toxic chemicals into the air including mercury, heavy metals, and acid gases, all of which are known to be deleterious to human health, especially that of the unborn fetus (15). The power sector has significantly reduced many of these pollutants over the past two decades, but important health and environmental concerns persist. Bronson These associations remained consistent for PTD and VPTD when exposures were categorized (Table2). Additionally, emissions of SO2 and NOXcontribute to the formation of ozone, or smog, and fine particle pollution. You can explore the distribution of all plants for a particular demographic by selecting the label or bar for the demographic. LA Updated March 27, 2012. When stratified by fuel type, coal had the strongest association with all adverse birth outcomes. The addresses we geocoded to determine proximity to power plants were residential addresses at birth. we equip you to harness the power of disruptive innovation, at work and at home. SI LA For example, you could filter the data to only display the largest emitting coal-fired plants with neighboring communities above the 80th percentile nationally of low-income population. The lack of consistent associations between nuclear plants and adverse birth outcomes is consistent with results from several previous studies, which showed no association between distance to nuclear power plants and adverse birth outcomes (1719, 34). Graham You can seethe percentages by hovering your cursor over the colored bars. significantly reduced many of these pollutants over the past two decades, Mapping Power Plants and Neighboring Communities, GraphingPower Plants and Neighboring Communities, EJ Screening Reportfor the Clean Power Plan, Frequent Questions about Power Plants and Neighboring Communities, Power Plants and Neighboring Communities Webinar. (* edit). For example, in Ohio the setback from a homeis 100 feetfrom awell - not even from the boundary of a wellpad - and only 75 feet for a directional well. Is added to the natural gas is stored in large volumes in above... You might be wondering, So how bad is it you can seethe by. 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