On Florida birth certificates, the gestational age in weeks is typically determined by ultrasound measurements. However, women may have moved during pregnancy, leading to potential exposure misclassification. WebDifferent countries have a different regulation regarding the measurements of where to reside from the station. HUD goes further and states that "Operating and abandoned oil and gas wells pose potentialhazards to housing, in Ohio the setback from a homeis 100 feet, Northeast Ohio Gas Accountability Project. We also created 20 km buffers around each birth and determined the total number of power plants within this buffer (Table4). and a University of Florida Graduate School fellowship (S.H.). However, we have also used a fully adjusted model with all covariates in our directed acyclic graph. The mandated distance from an industrial facility to a home or other sensitive area is called a "setback." et al. Characteristics of 423,719 Singleton Births in Florida From 2004 to 2005. H To ensure that clustering was not influencing our results, we performed a sensitivity analysis using the number of power plants within 20 km as exposure. 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). 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). Director of Energy Research & Analysis, Guillermo Pereira RD HS During the study period, power plants in the United States emitted an estimated annual average of 2,491,971 metric tons of carbon dioxide, 10,431 metric tons of sulfur dioxide, and 4,212 metric tons of nitric oxides (27). Stieb After exclusion of births that had addresses outside Florida (n = 4,672); births that were missing address (n = 423), unable to geocode (e.g., only post office box available, n = 563), missing gestational age (n = 937), and multiple births (n = 13,686); and those with birth weight out of range (i.e., <500 and >5,000 g) (n = 903) and those with gestational age out of range (i.e., <140 days and >320 days) (n = 125), 423,719 births remained for analyses. Checking with the relevant authorities is good.The standard JK Quantifying the risk Though UCSs legislative effort did not succeed this year, UCS is committed to finding solutions that allow us to transition away from natural gas in a way that is not only economical, but also equitable. Moshammer Abbreviations: aOR, adjusted odds ratio; CI, confidence interval; LBW, low birth weight; PTD, preterm delivery; VPTD, very preterm delivery. 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). When stratified for different types of power plants, the results remained generally consistent. Coal was strongly associated with all adverse birth outcomes (Table4). The following maps and graphs highlight powerplants located in or near communities with one or more of the six key demographics at or above the 80thpercentile nationally. 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. . M 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. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is home to the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). T When hydrogen is added to the natural gas fuel mix, the carbon emissions fall even more. We also compared the odds for different buffer sizes of <5, 59.9, 1019.9, and 20 km from a power plant. 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. Wu 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. D A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. CA Still, being aware of the characteristics of communities closest to power plants is a starting point in understanding the potential sources of pollution that may impact a community and how changes in a power plants air emissions may affect the air quality experienced by some of those already vulnerable to environmental burdens. C Strmgren Can living near a nuclear power plant cause cancer? Bell H Search for other works by this author on: Particulate matter air pollution and cardiovascular disease: an update to the scientific statement from the American Heart Association, Outdoor air pollution and respiratory health in patients with COPD, A systematic review of air pollution and incidence of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, Fine particulate air pollution and hospital admission for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, Urban air pollution, and asthma and COPD hospital emergency room visits, Acute and subacute effects of urban air pollution on cardiopulmonary emergencies and mortality: time series studies in Austrian cities, Multicity study of air pollution and mortality in Latin America (the ESCALA study), The short-term effects of air pollution on daily mortality in four Australian cities, Estimating the national public health burden associated with exposure to ambient PM, Ambient air pollution, birth weight and preterm birth: a systematic review and meta-analysis, Ambient air pollution and risk of congenital anomalies: a systematic review and meta-analysis, Ambient air pollution and hypertensive disorder of pregnancy, Ambient air pollution and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis, Toxic Air: The Case for Cleaning Up Coal-fired Power Plants, Published March 27, 2012. LT De Mouzon Demand for these electric plants is increasing, and the thousands of workers who will be constructing them, and working in them, will rely on better protocols and oversight for their safety. Researchers from this study found no evidence of risk of childhood cancer for families living 164 feet or more from power lines. This pattern remained consistent when daily PM2.5 concentrations near different types of power plants were examined. On January 27, 2021, Climate Day, President Biden issued an Executive Order, entitled Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, that addresses climate change policy and environmental justice. Therefore, this discrepancy is likely to bias our results toward the null. We strongly caution natural gas power plants and other industries against the venting of high-pressure natural gas in or near work sites. Manzanares When the results for both analyses were compared, the conclusions were consistent, although those for categorical exposure are stronger. After adjustment for potential confounders, living closer to any power plant increased the odds of all adverse birth outcomes compared with living farther away. L Chang Prenatal exposure to particulate matter less than 2.5 m in diameter for women living near different types of power plants was also determined by using National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network data. Holland Natural gas power accounts for about 20 percent of the nation's electricity. L J RJ Thanks for signing up. We also found that gas and oil plants had a positive association with adverse birth outcomes, especially PTD and VPTD. This finding is plausible as these plants produce high concentrations of nitric oxides that have been found to increase the odds of these outcomes (30, 33). To describe prenatal exposures to PM2.5, we estimated average daily residential exposures to PM2.5 during pregnancy for each birth using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network. RE: How far away should you live from a power plant? From a coal-fired power plant I would want to be at least ten miles upwind and nowhere near th 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. a Adjusted for maternal age, maternal race, marital status, census block group income, and urban neighborhood. There are a lot of factors that you need to consider. Different countries have a different regulation regarding the measurements of where to reside (20), who reported that the odds of PTD were 14 times higher among women who lived within 3 km of a thermal power plant compared with those who lived farther than 3 km. R A The impurities in wellhead natural gas determine the number of stages and the processes required to produce pipeline-quality, dry natural gas. C Hodges Terms, Conditions, and Privacy Policy. 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. Many plants meet or exceed this threshold for more than one key demographic and are included in the counts of more than one demographic. S Delivering natural gas from natural gas and oil wells to consumers requires many infrastructure assets and processing steps and several physical transfers of custody. Figure2A and 2B illustrate PM2.5 exposure by types of power plants. C We further stratify these associations by fuel type. X Receive urgent alerts about opportunities to defend science. We used logistic regression models to investigate the association between proximity to a power plant and the adverse birth outcomes. Four people died last year during a gas blow at a ConAgra Slim Jim factory in North Carolina. M Now, I know that 1% does not sound like very much, but give me a moment to explain why this is still significant. Brook 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. et al. Overall, the percentages of people living closer to power plants were higher among those with adverse birth outcomes compared with those among controls. To our knowledge, few existing studies have evaluated the association between residential proximity to different types of power plants and adverse birth outcomes (20). These results call for further investigation to confirm our results and to investigate the specific pollutants generated from power plants that are responsible for this association. Teng Given that PM2.5 is a measurable air pollutant and a major component of power plant emissions (21), as well as its consistent associations with adverse birth outcomes (22, 23), PM2.5 can serve as a good indicator for air pollution from power plants. air pollution, California, clean energy, emissions, natural gas, NOx. JJ Workers might also use air, steam, nitrogen, or water *in lieu of natural gas. Living next to natural gas wells is no fun From health threats to truck traffic, from rank odors to sinking property values, Coloradans explain what it's like to live near We wish to thank the Florida Department of Health for supplying the data. Bell (617) 547-5552. et al. Additionally, emissions of SO2 and NOXcontribute to the formation of ozone, or smog, and fine particle pollution. Maps by energy source and topic, includes forecast maps. They included mother's age (continuous), maternal education (less than high school, high school graduate and/or some college, college graduate, graduate school), maternal race (white, black, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, and others), and marital status (married, unmarried). LA M Not only does NOx cause respiratory problems, but NOx also reacts with other substances in the air to produce particulate matter and ozone. Financial market analysis and financial data for major energy companies. O'Brien To make long-term gains against infection inequity, infectious disease epidemiology needs to develop a more sociological imagination. Natural gas is a relatively clean burning fossil fuel. J Testing RFID blocking cards: Do they work? Monthly and yearly energy forecasts, analysis of energy topics, financial analysis, congressional reports. A For VPTD, only oil and solid waste plants had significant associations. et al. Liu et al. 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. Oil and gas production poses all those risks. Populations found to be particularly vulnerable to environmental pollution include the poor, the elderly, the very young, those already in poor health, and/or indigenous populations. How Much Land Would it Require to Get Most of Our Electricity from Wind and Solar? 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). More information about the Power Plants and Neighboring Communities Mapping Tool can be foundhere. JavaScript appears to be disabled on this computer. Lee A detailed description of this method was reported elsewhere (23). SI et al. et al. Called a gas blow, the operation involved workers streaming natural gas through a pipe at a high velocity in order to remove debris from new piping. When stratifying by different fuel type, we found that only solid waste had an association with term LBW, whereas oil, gas, and solid waste all had an association with PTD and VPTD. The CSB is trying to devise better safety codes for gas blows, but has yet to identify them. The fact of the matter is that natural gas power plants still produce a significant amount of air pollution, and thats a problem. Ha The type of nearest power plant was also identified by fuel type. Please click here to see any active alerts. Roussos-Ross SA 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). et al. Does EIA have maps or information on the location of natural gas and oil pipelines? D R Association Between Proximity to Power Plants, by Fuel Type, and Adverse Birth Outcomes in Florida From 2004 to 2005. These pollutants have been linked to adverse birth outcomes in many studies. 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. However, the distance from the line is crucial in determining the damage it causes. Tools to customize searches, view specific data sets, study detailed documentation, and access time-series data. . This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com. HR Nathanson Many U.S. power plants produce CO 2 emissions. Results were consistent when exposure was categorized by number of power plants. 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. Natural gas is burned to generate heat, electricity, and hot water. J More research is warranted to better understand the causal relationship. Association Between Number of Plants Within 20 km, by Fuel Type, and Adverse Birth Outcomes in Florida From 2004 to 2005. a Adjusted for maternal age, maternal race, maternal education, marital status, census block group income, and urban neighborhood. Mark Specht is the Western States Energy Manager/Senior Analyst for the Climate & Energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. You can explore the distribution of all plants for a particular demographic by selecting the label or bar for the demographic. The power sector has significantly reduced many of these pollutants over the past two decades, but important health and environmental concerns persist. It is important to note that the impacts of power plant emissions are not limited to a 3-mile radius. As noted in the Data Considerations section, information about the adjacent communities can be used to raise awareness and to help people understand the extent to which there may be disproportionate, adverse impacts on overburdened communities. Y A we equip you to harness the power of disruptive innovation, at work and at home. The sample prevalence was 2.4% for term LBW, 8.2% for PTD, and 1.5% for VPTD. The failure of a single dam on the Ru River in China caused an estimated 171,000 deaths. Peacock N In addition, when exposure was changed to number of plants within 20 km, coal plants had the highest association with all adverse birth outcomes. Ha FHA insures home mortgages to help Americans buy homes. Do not touch the fence because it might be electrified, and the guards might mistake you for an anti-nuclear activist trying to break in. Apart fr Xu Some layersare not visible until the map is zoomed in. The addresses we geocoded to determine proximity to power plants were residential addresses at birth. Updated March 27, 2012. We also analyzed our exposure as a continuous variable and assumed that the association between proximity and the odds of adverse birth outcomes is linear on the logarithmic scale. Petroeschevsky Chang Second, just because the electric sector is cleaner than the transportation sector does not mean the electric sector is not dirty. We also categorized the proximity to power plants into several categories of buffers: <5, 59.9, 1019.9, and 20 km. The association between adverse birth outcomes and total number of power plants within 20 km was determined. On the Ru River safe distance to live from natural gas power plant China caused an estimated 171,000 deaths Housing and Urban Development ( ). Lbw, 8.2 % for term LBW, 8.2 % for VPTD pipeline-quality, dry natural gas c Terms... Is that natural gas in or near work sites plants within this buffer ( Table4 ) in is! 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