Mortality risk from United States coal electricity generation.
retrospective_cohort · Level III
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 37995235.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/science.adf4915 and PMC identifier 10870829.
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Abstract
Policy-makers seeking to limit the impact of coal electricity-generating units (EGUs, also known as power plants) on air quality and climate justify regulations by quantifying the health burden attributable to exposure from these sources. We defined "coal PM<sub>2.5</sub>" as fine particulate matter associated with coal EGU sulfur dioxide emissions and estimated annual exposure to coal PM<sub>2.5</sub> from 480 EGUs in the US. We estimated the number of deaths attributable to coal PM<sub>2.5</sub> from 1999 to 2020 using individual-level Medicare death records representing 650 million person-years. Exposure to coal PM<sub>2.5</sub> was associated with 2.1 times greater mortality risk than exposure to PM<sub>2.5</sub> from all sources. A total of 460,000 deaths were attributable to coal PM<sub>2.5</sub>, representing 25% of all PM<sub>2.5</sub>-related Medicare deaths before 2009 and 7% after 2012. Here, we quantify and visualize the contribution of individual EGUs to mortality.
Medical subject headings
- Air Pollutants
- Air Pollution
- Coal
- Environmental Exposure
- Mortality
- Particulate Matter
- Power Plants
- Sulfur Dioxide