Martenies Sheena E, Akherati Ali, Jathar Shantanu, Magzamen Sheryl
Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences Colorado State University Fort Collins CO USA.
Department of Mechanical Engineering Colorado State University Fort Collins CO USA.
Geohealth. 2019 Sep 26;3(9):266-283. doi: 10.1029/2019GH000206. eCollection 2019 Sep.
Despite improvements in air quality over the past 50 years, ambient air pollution remains an important public health issue in the United States. In particular, emissions from coal-fired power plants still have a substantial impact on both nearby and regional populations. Of particular concern is the potential for this impact to fall disproportionately on low-income communities and communities of color. We conducted a quantitative health impact assessment to estimate the health benefits of the proposed decommissioning of two coal-fired electricity generating stations in the Southern Front Range region of Colorado. We estimated changes in exposures to fine particulate matter and ozone using the Community Multiscale Air Quality model and predicted avoided health impacts and related economic values. We also quantitatively assessed the distribution of these benefits by population-level socioeconomic status. Across the study area, decommissioning the power plants would result in 2 (95% CI: 1-3) avoided premature deaths each year due to reduced PM exposures and greater reductions in hospitalizations and other morbidities. Health benefits resulting from the modeled shutdowns were greatest in areas with lower educational attainment and other economic indicators. Our results suggest that decommissioning these power plants and replacing them with zero-emissions sources could have broad public health benefits for residents of Colorado, with larger benefits for those that are socially disadvantaged. Our results also suggested that researchers and decision makers need to consider the unique demographics of their study areas to ensure that important opportunities to reduce health disparities associated with point-source pollution.
尽管在过去50年空气质量有所改善，但在美国，室外空气污染仍是一个重要的公共卫生问题。特别是，燃煤发电厂的排放仍然对附近和区域人口产生重大影响。尤其令人担忧的是，这种影响可能会不成比例地落在低收入社区和有色人种社区。我们进行了一项定量健康影响评估，以估计科罗拉多州前山山脉南部地区两座燃煤发电站退役提议的健康益处。我们使用社区多尺度空气质量模型估计细颗粒物和臭氧暴露的变化，并预测避免的健康影响和相关经济价值。我们还按人口层面的社会经济状况对这些益处的分布进行了定量评估。在整个研究区域，关闭这些发电厂每年将因细颗粒物暴露减少以及住院和其他发病率的更大幅度降低而避免2例（95%置信区间：1-3）过早死亡。模拟关闭带来的健康益处在教育程度较低和其他经济指标较低的地区最为显著。我们的结果表明，关闭这些发电厂并用零排放源取而代之，可能会给科罗拉多州居民带来广泛的公共卫生益处，对社会弱势群体的益处更大。我们的结果还表明，研究人员和决策者需要考虑其研究区域独特的人口统计特征，以确保有重要机会减少与点源污染相关的健康差距。
