Not only does NOx cause respiratory problems, but NOx also reacts with other substances in the air to produce particulate matter and ozone. TH To describe exposures to PM2.5 during pregnancy and throughout the study period according to nearest power plants, we used scatterplots with locally weighted scatterplot smoothing (LOESS) functions (smooth = 0.5) to display averaged daily concentrations during the first trimester (y-axis) by date of delivery (x-axis), as well as daily concentrations (y-axis) by date during the study period (x-axis). We stratified the plots by fuel type for comparison. 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). The first trimester was defined as the first 13 weeks of gestation. We also used Census 2000 data to determine census block group income as a proxy for neighborhood socioeconomic status and urbanity. Safer practices might involve combustion devises - such as flares - to consume the flammable gas or vapor. Wilhelm JD A A detailed description of this method was reported elsewhere (23). A three-mile radius isconsistent with environmental justice literature and studies, including theEJ Screening Reportfor the Clean Power Plan. et al. M You can explore the distribution of all plants for a particular demographic by selecting the label or bar for the demographic. spreadsheet presents all the information available through EPA's environmental justice mapping and screening tool,EJSCREEN. This work was supported by grant K01ES019177 from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (X.X.) For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription. In the continuous exposure analyses, only solid waste plants (OR = 1.03, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.04) had an association with term LBW for each 5-km decrease in distance. VPTD was defined as a birth that occurred before 32 weeks of gestation. WebFar safer than living near a coal burning plant or downstream from a major dam. Simpson Quadrant A shows power plants located in or near communities with a low-income percentage greater than the national average and less than the people of color national average. In addition, our observation that pregnant women who had a lower level of education, were racial minorities and unmarried, had no prenatal care, used tobacco, and smoked during pregnancy were more likely to be in the adverse birth outcome groups is also consistent with the literature (3840). However, studies on residential mobility and its effects on air pollution assessment suggest a very low degree of misclassification (42, 43). On average, males weigh 150 and 200 g more than females (36) given term birth, and they have a 9%24% increased risk for PTD (37). K MS In addition, when exposure was changed to number of plants within 20 km, coal plants had the highest association with all adverse birth outcomes. You'll receive your first NRDC action alert and PTD was defined as a birth that occurred before 37 but at or after 32 weeks of gestation. Visintainer Moreover, there is recent evidence suggesting that harmful emissions from power plants may be increasing (16). Senior Energy Analyst, James Gignac U.S. We observed a 1.8% (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.3, 2.3) increased odds for PTD, 2.2% (95% CI: 1.0, 3.4) for VPTD, and 1.1% (95% CI: 0.2, 2.0) for term LBW for each 5 km closer to any power plant. When ultrasound is not available, fundal height (determined by clinical examination) or menstrual history is used to estimate gestational age. Four people died last year during a gas blow at a ConAgra Slim Jim factory in North Carolina. Lamson Exposures to levels of particulate matter less than 2.5 m in diameter (PM2.5) stratified by power plant type in Florida from 2003 to 2005. Anenberg Brook Results were consistent when exposure was categorized by number of power plants. Burning fossil fuels to produce electricity creates emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOX), particulate matter (PM), carbon dioxide (CO2),mercury (Hg) and other hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), and other pollutants. S Recurring messages. More information about the Power Plants and Neighboring Communities Mapping Tool can be foundhere. For each plant, EPA summarized population percentages ofsix key demographics and demographic indexfor the neighboring communities located within three miles of each plant. 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). Does EIA have maps or information on the location of natural gas and oil pipelines? We also found that gas and oil plants had a positive association with adverse birth outcomes, especially PTD and VPTD. S A recent study by the Union of Concerned Scientists found that natural gas power plants in California will start and stop much more frequently in the future, and this increase in natural gas plant start-ups may increase NOx emissions. 2023 ZDNET, A Red Ventures company. Wellhead natural gas may contain contaminants and hydrocarbon gas liquids (HGLs) that must be removed before the natural gas can be safely transported through high-pressure, long-distance pipelines to consumers. BE J But HUD goes further and states that "Operating and abandoned oil and gas wells pose potentialhazards to housing, including potential fire, explosion,spray and other pollution.No existing dwelling may be located closer than 300 feet from an active or planned drilling site. Strmgren Like most retrospective studies, this study has several limitations. Natural gas processing can be complex and usually involves several steps to remove oil, water, HGLS, and other impurities such as sulfur, helium, nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide, and carbon dioxide. Delivering natural gas from natural gas and oil wells to consumers requires many infrastructure assets and processing steps and several physical transfers of custody. DM Lets make sure that does not happen. M R 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. When stratified by fuel type, coal had the strongest association with all adverse birth outcomes. we equip you to harness the power of disruptive innovation, at work and at home. X Delfino JI Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. et al. Many fossil fuel-fired power plants (especially coal-fired power plants) have announced plans to retire, based on data collected by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Underground Natural Gas Storage by Storage Type, The Basics of Underground Natural Gas Storage, Natural Gas Processing: The Crucial Link Between Natural Gas Production and Its Transportation to Market. J The type of nearest power plant was also identified by fuel type. Subscribe to feeds for updates on EIA products including Today in Energy and What's New. . Burning fossil fuels at power plants creates emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOX), particulate matter (PM), carbon dioxide (CO2),mercury (Hg), and other pollutants. 4.5 shows the two schemes considered by the authors. Czeizel Director of Energy Research & Analysis, Guillermo Pereira The CSB is trying to devise better safety codes for gas blows, but has yet to identify them. 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). Zeitlin 2 Brattle Square, Cambridge MA 02138, USA, produces less global warming emissions and air pollution, projections from the California Air Resources Board, concentrated in some of the most socioeconomically and environmentally disadvantaged communities. Second, we use PM2.5 as a surrogate for pollution from power plants to determine 1) the level of pollution exposure during pregnancy for women living close to power plants and 2) whether the amount of pollution depends on fuel type. Rabczenko SC 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. Therefore, this discrepancy is likely to bias our results toward the null. Furthermore, although power plant emissions are 1 of the major point sources of air pollution (21), which has been shown to have consistent association with adverse birth outcomes (22), there is limited information on air pollution exposure and pregnant women living close to specific types of power plants. And since half of Californias natural gas power plants are concentrated in some of the most socioeconomically and environmentally disadvantaged communities in the state, these emissions harm communities that are already overburdened with pollution. X Western States Energy Manager/Senior Analyst. Bremner First, analysis of proximity as both a continuous variable and as a categorical variable addresses exposure-response relationships, but it does so in different ways with different assumptions. On the other hand, the process of getting natural gas from where it's mined to the power plants leads to considerable release of methane The national average for each demographic is shown in parentheses. D Su Ive lived closer than a lot of people. I slept just a couple hundred feet from one. I worked dozens of feet from them. My apartment where I spent Many plants meet or exceed this threshold for more than one key demographic and are included in the counts of more than one demographic. Additional layers which can be toggled on/off include power plant emissions, area demographics, and tribal areas. Two logistic regression models were used for each outcome: The first model was unadjusted, and the second model was a parsimonious model adjusted for potential confounders on the basis of our directed acyclic graph (Supplementary Data). While a natural gas-fired power plant emits only about half the carbon dioxide as a coal plant, thats still far from zero. Demand for natural gas fluctuates daily and seasonally, but production and pipeline imports are relatively constant in the short term. Some places in the country, however, still have setbacks for homes that are less then 300 feet. Regional energy information including dashboards, maps, data, and analyses. For controls, we used eligible births that had none of the 3 outcomes we assessed. Teng Zhu Petroeschevsky DM J Yu S Ha At this point you might be wondering, So how bad is it? The Natural Resources Defense Council works to safeguard the earth - its people, ommunities with a people of color percentage greater than the national average and a low-income percentage less than the national average. Accessed December 6, 2014, US Power Plant Global Warming Emissions Rising in 2013 AfterYears of Decline, Birth defects in the vicinity of nuclear power plants in Germany, Congenital anomalies, prematurity, and low birth weight rates in relation to nuclear power plant proximity, Pregnancy outcome of women in the vicinity of nuclear power plants in Taiwan, Increased risk of preterm delivery in women residing near thermal power plants in Taiwan, Using the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) Model to estimate public health impacts of PM, Maternal exposure to fine particulate matter (PM) and pregnancy outcomes: a meta-analysis, The effects of air pollution on adverse birth outcomes, Fuel sources and carbon dioxide emissions by electric power plants in the United States, Published March 2009. But coal is just about the dirtiest way to produce electricity, so almost anything will seem cleaner in comparison. M PC et al. JavaScript appears to be disabled on this computer. In the categorical exposure analyses, we made a fundamental assumption that each power plant has a uniform effect on participants within a certain buffer. Lee A) Daily concentrations of PM2.5 during the study period 20032005 at power plants; B) mean daily PM2.5 concentration at residential address during the first trimester for births in Florida from 2004 to 2005. Bell Workers might also use air, steam, nitrogen, or water *in lieu of natural gas. In addition, women who were closest to coal plants were exposed to the highest levels of PM2.5 (mean = 10.7 (standard deviation (SD), 2.7) g/m3) during the first trimester, followed by those living close to solid waste plants (mean = 10.1 (SD, 1.8) g/m3), gas plants (mean = 9.5 (SD, 2.1) g/m3), and oil plants (mean = 9.3 (SD, 1.8) g/m3). The following are the required setbacks to minimize exposure at different distances: 100 feet for 50 to 133kV transmission line 150 feet for 220 to 230kV transmission line 350 feet for 500 to 550kV transmission line Overall, the percentages of people living closer to power plants were higher among those with adverse birth outcomes compared with those among controls. Checking with the relevant authorities is good.The standard How much NOx is coming from natural gas power plants? That is where things get complicated. The results remained consistent when exposure was categorized (Table3). A recent risk analysis estimated that particulate matter less than 2.5 m in diameter (PM2.5) and ozone, estimated from the 2005 air quality level, were responsible for 130,000 and 4,700 excess deaths, respectively (9). 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). We also compared the odds for different buffer sizes of <5, 59.9, 1019.9, and 20 km from a power plant. Lets make sure we bring everyone along in the transition to clean electricity. 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. Peacock Zou As paradoxical as it may sound, California may continue to achieve its global warming emissions reduction goals and increase air pollution from natural gas power plants at the same time. This practice, although common, is inherently unsafe. Spengler Exploration and reserves, storage, imports and exports, production, prices, sales. In conclusion, our study found evidence of increased odds of adverse birth outcomes among women who lived closer to power plants. Do you need one? Some of the highest-polluting natural gas power plants emit over 100 tons of NOx per year, which is roughly equivalent to the NOx emissions from traveling 11 million miles(assuming an emissions rate of 8.18 grams of NOx per mile) in a diesel school bus, one of the most-polluting types of vehicles. L The graph below compares the key demographics ofcommunities near power plants to national averages. In addition, we also overlaid geocoded active power plants and the 12 12 km grids to determine the daily PM2.5 concentrations near the power plants during the study period. Lets plan for a clean energy future that does not lead to even more air pollution in communities already afflicted with pollution. et al. SA N Although we chose PM2.5 to validate our exposure, power plants also emit other gaseous pollutants including carbon oxides, sulfur dioxide, and nitric oxides (41), all of which are highly correlated (30). We overlaid geocoded residential addresses over the 12 12 km grids. Gouveia Financial market analysis and financial data for major energy companies. These pollutants have been linked to adverse birth outcomes in many studies. When the results for both analyses were compared, the conclusions were consistent, although those for categorical exposure are stronger. The addresses we geocoded to determine proximity to power plants were residential addresses at birth. Full understanding of safety distances is typically only achieved when it is too late to implement without significant changes. Association Between Proximity to Power Plants, by Fuel Type, and Adverse Birth Outcomes in Florida From 2004 to 2005. Lesson plans, science fair experiments, field trips, teacher guide, and career corner. SC The content of this manuscript is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funders or data provider. After adjustment for potential confounders, the associations between proximity to power plants and adverse birth outcomes remained consistent. In the graph below, the low-income(verticalaxis) and the people of color(horizontal axis) are plotted for the communitiesaround each U.S. fossil fuel-fired power plant. We chose first trimester because 1) first trimester exposure to PM2.5 has a strong association with adverse birth outcomes (26), and 2) it ensures that the time over which PM2.5 is averaged is similar for cases and controls. Steve Clemmer A How Much Land Would it Require to Get Most of Our Electricity from Wind and Solar? 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