Scientific reality: PM2.5 does not kill anyone. The EPA's claims of PM2.5 lethality rank among the most nonsensical fraudulent and readily disprovable scientific claims ever.
Chinese cities have some of the worst air pollution in the world. Two are Xi'an and Shanghai. Yet reports claim life expectancy in both these cities is higher than the US.
According to a 2012 report, even though the air in Xi'an is, on average, 9-10 times more polluted in terms of PM2.5 particles than the median PM2.5 levels of the two most polluted cities in a 112 US city study (Rubidoux, CA and Los Angeles, CA), it is safer than US air by a factor of five. (1)
Then there's Shanghai. On December 6, 2013, Shanghai's PM2.5 level exceeded 600 micrograms per cubic meter—about 60 times the average level of PM2.5 in US air. (2)
According to the EPA, every 10 micrograms per cubic meter increase in PM2.5 raises the death rate by about 1%. So Shanghai's death rate should be quite high, e.g., 60 times higher on December 6, 2013 alone. (3)
But no such death rate was reported. In fact, no increase in deaths at all was reported.
And, like with Xi'an it's worth noting that the life expectancy in Shanghai (82.47 years) is higher than that in the US. (4)
Yes, the air in Xi'an and Shanghai is foul. Is it killing people? There is no evidence of that.
Yet, EPA claims that natural and man-made PM2.5 causes as many as 500,000 deaths annually. Think about this statistic for a moment. This figure represent 25% of all US annual deaths. (5) How many people do you know who died from air pollution? I'm hard pressed to come up with one name, yet 25%? Really!
EPA's position is that:
- any inhalation of PM2.5 can cause death
- death from PM2.5 may occur within hours of inhalation
- long-term (i.e., years or decades) exposure to PM2.5 can cause premature death
Steve Milloy says, “This is shocking since if air pollution really was deadly, one would expect to see this phenomenon operating in high gear in the respiratory horror that exists in Xi'an and Shanghai.” (6)
What about health effects? There's no evidence to support EPA's long-standing claim that fine airborne particulate matter measuring 2.5 micrograms or less (PM2.5) is killing thousands of Americans every year, according to the first comprehensive study of its kind. The study compared air quality data collected statewide by the California Air Resources Board on 854,109 death certificates issued by the State Department of Public Health documenting 94 percent of all deaths in California between 2007 and 2010. No correlation was found between changes in ambient PM2.5 and mortality for any cause of death. The study also found 'no evidence' to support EPA claims that the elderly and those with heart and lung disease were more vulnerable than the general population to the effects of PM2.5 (7)
A study by UCLA's Dr. James Enstron of the long-term relationship between PM2.5 air pollution followed nearly 50,000 elderly Californians over a 30-year period., from 1973 through 2002. In concluded that there was no death effect from current atmospheric levels of PM2.5 in California. (8)
Scientific reality: PM2.5 does not kill anyone. The EPA's claims of PM2.5 lethality rank among the most nonsensical fraudulent and readily disprovable scientific claims ever.
References
Junji Cao et al., “Fine particulate matter constituents and cardiopulmonary mortality in a heavily polluted Chinese city,” Environmental Health Perspectives, January 3, 2012
Hu Min, “Shanghai pollution figures hit record highs,” shanghaidaily.com, December 7, 2013
Steve Milloy, “If air pollution kills, why doesn't it kill the Chinese?”, junkscience.com, May 21, 2015
Viola Ke, “Life expectancy figure continues to rise in city,” shanghaidaily.com, January 27, 2014
Steve Milloy, “Fact Sheet: EPA's claim that its coal plant CO2 rules will save lives by reducing particulate matter emissions is false,” junkscience.com, November 25, 2014
Steve Milloy, “Shocker:Chjinese air pollution debunks EPA junk science,” junkscience.com, January 5, 2012
Barbara Hollingsworth, “Study: no statistical correlation between fine airborne particles, premature death,” cnsnews.com, January 7, 2014
James E. Enstron, “Fine particulate air pollution and coarse particulate air pollution on mortality: a national analysis,” Environmental Health Perspectives, 117 (6),898, 2009
Jack Dini is author of Challenging Environmental Mythology. He has also written for American Council on Science and Health, Environment & Climate News, and Hawaii Reporter.
