Power Plant Health Facts

Power Plant Pollution Health Facts

Chicago ranks second among all cities in the country adversely affected by power plant pollution. Each year 855 premature deaths, 848 hospitalizations, 1,519 heart attacks, and 23,650 asthma attacks are attributable to power plant emissions. (Abt Associates, "Power Plant Emissions: Particulate Matter-Related Health Damages and the Benefits of Alternative Emission Reduction Scenarios" June 2004)

Fine particulate matter from Chicago's Fisk and Crawford power plants -- located in low income communities -- contributes to 41 deaths, 550 ER visits and 2800 asthma attacks annually broken down as:

	Mortality	All-cause ER visits	Asthma Attacks	Minor restricted-activity days
Fisk	15	200	1,000	13,000
Crawford	26	350	1,800	23,000

(based on Levy, Jonathan I., John D. Spengler, et. al. Using CALPUFF to evaluate the impacts of power plant emissions in Illinois: model sensitivity and implications. Atmospheric Environment 10 September 2001.)

• EPA's consultants estimate that fine particle pollution from power plants shortens the lives of 1,356 Illinoisans each year. Fine particle pollution from power plants also cause 195,698 lost work days, 1,333 hospitalizations and 33,986 asthma attacks every year, 2,007 of which are so severe they require emergency room visits. (Abt Associates, "Power Plant Emissions: Particulate Matter-Related Health Damages and the Benefits of Alternative Emission Reduction Scenarios" June 2004.)
  
  
• A recent scientific study by researchers affiliated with the American Cancer Society found that people living in the most polluted cities have approximately a 12 percent increased risk of cardiopulmonary death over those living in the cleanest areas of the country. Similarly, for lung cancer, there is approximately a 16 percent increased risk for those living in the more polluted cities. (C. A. Pope, et. al., Lung Cancer, Cardiopulmonary Mortality and Long-Term Exposure to Fine Particulate Air Pollution. Journal of the American Medical Association Vol. 287, no 9. - March 6, 2002. www.jama.amaassn.org/cgi/content/abstract/287/9/1132.)
  
  
• Based on EPA data, each year, 156 lung cancer deaths and 2,361 heart attacks in Illinois are attributable to power plant pollution. (Abt Associates, "Power Plant Emissions: Particulate Matter-Related Health Damages and the Benefits of Alternative Emission Reduction Scenarios" June 2004.)
  
  
• Children are the most susceptible to the detrimental effects posed by power plant air pollution. In Illinois, 2,746,764 children live within 30 miles of a power plant, the area in which the greatest health impacts are felt. (Clean Air Task Force, Children At Risk, How Air Pollution from Power Plants Threatens the Health of America's Children, May 2002. http://www.cleartheair.org/)
  
  
• Additionally, researchers have found that infants in areas with high levels of particulate matter pollution face a 26 percent increased risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and a 40 percent increased risk of respiratory death. (Woodruf, T. Grillo, J. and Schoendorf, K. 1997. The relationship between selected causes of post-neonatal infant mortality and particulate air pollution in the United States. Environmental Health Prospective, vol. 105, p 608-612.)

**For more information, view the Harvard School of Public Health study that found that air pollution from Fisk and Crawford causes more than 40 deaths, 550 emergency room visits, and 2,800 asthma attacks annually.