The sample prevalence was 2.4% for term LBW, 8.2% for PTD, and 1.5% for VPTD. Maps, tools, and resources related to energy disruptions and infrastructure. Furthermore, although power plant emissions are 1 of the major point sources of air pollution (21), which has been shown to have consistent association with adverse birth outcomes (22), there is limited information on air pollution exposure and pregnant women living close to specific types of power plants. Natural gas transmission pipelines are wide-diameter pipelines and are often the long-distance portion of natural gas pipeline systems that connect gathering systems in producing areas, natural gas processing plants, and other receipt points to the main consumer service areas. 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 Bremner Ha SI Safer practices might involve combustion devises - such as flares - to consume the flammable gas or vapor. Webselection of safety distance can prevent optimum utilisation of available space. Because pollution can travel over long distances from a power plant, the impacts of both potential increases and decreases in power plant emissions can be felt many miles away, meaning that the air quality in a community can be due to far-distant sources as well as those sited within a community. For example, the fact that our study showed an increased proportion of females among the term LBW group and a decreased proportion of females among the PTD and VPTD groups confirmed previous findings. It is possible that socioeconomic status confounded the association that we observed in this study. J Financial market analysis and financial data for major energy companies. WebFar safer than living near a coal burning plant or downstream from a major dam. When considering whether a property is eligible for an FHA-insured loan, HUD requires that "a site be rejected if the property being appraised is subject to hazards, environmental contaminants, noxious odors, offensive sights or excessive noises to the point of endangering the physical improvements or affecting the livability of the property, its marketability or the health and safety of its occupants." We unfortunately did not have residential mobility information to address this issue. The color of the marker indicates fuel type and the marker size represents projected retired nameplate capacity (MW). Do you need one? Moreover, there is recent evidence suggesting that harmful emissions from power plants may be increasing (16). For VPTD, only oil and solid waste plants had significant associations. The fact of the matter is that natural gas power plants still produce a significant amount of air pollution, and thats a problem. These keydemographicsand information about nearby power plants may help identify a community's potential vulnerability to environmental concerns. Testing RFID blocking cards: Do they work? Figure2A and 2B illustrate PM2.5 exposure by types of power plants. . A X We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Saurel-Cubizolles Short, timely articles with graphics on energy, facts, issues, and trends. Tags: They produce toxic and radioactive waste and spew it into the air, poisoning the environment, sickening people, and causing climate change. Oh wait Full understanding of safety distances is typically only achieved when it is too late to implement without significant changes. Simpson . See the health effects of ozoneand particulate matter pollution. 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. 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. A Like most retrospective studies, this study has several limitations. 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). et al. In general, the concentrations of PM2.5 were highest around coal plants followed by solid waste, gas, oil, other, and nuclear plants (Figure2A). When ultrasound is not available, fundal height (determined by clinical examination) or menstrual history is used to estimate gestational age. JM HS et al. Williams Furthermore, we were not able to account for pollutants from other sources such as traffic and industrial emission. 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. Burning natural gas for energy results in fewer emissions of nearly all types of air pollutants and carbon dioxide (CO 2) than burning coal or petroleum products to produce an equal amount of energy. Some towns in Texas have setbacks of up to 1,000 feet from a home, fresh water well, school, hospital or public park. Dominici J However, women may have moved during pregnancy, leading to potential exposure misclassification. Coal was strongly associated with all adverse birth outcomes (Table4). Exploration and reserves, storage, imports and exports, production, prices, sales. The mandated distance from an industrial facility to a home or other sensitive area is called a "setback." Data analyses were performed by using SAS, version 9.3, software (SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, North Carolina). ML The addresses we geocoded to determine proximity to power plants were residential addresses at birth. Reserves, production, prices, employment and productivity, distribution, stocks, imports and exports. Wang Finally, the Hierarchical Bayesian Prediction Model data that we used to describe PM2.5 exposures were available at only 12 12 km resolution. Chen Exposure to various air pollutants has also been linked to adverse pregnancy-related and birth outcomes including gestational hypertension, premature delivery, and low birth weight (1013). we equip you to harness the power of disruptive innovation, at work and at home. S Ive lived closer than a lot of people. I slept just a couple hundred feet from one. I worked dozens of feet from them. My apartment where I spent Electric power sector power plants that burned fossil fuels or materials made from fossil fuels, and some geothermal power plants, were the source of about 32% of total U.S. energy-related CO 2 emissions in 2021.. 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. 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. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Strmgren Furthermore, when studying a proposed natural gas power plant, a California Energy Commission analysis found that local one-hour concentrations of NO2 (one form of NOx) would nearly double from their background levels. M D Women who lived closer to coal and solid waste power plants were exposed to higher levels of particulate matter less than 2.5 m in diameter compared with other types. H Geographical distribution of power plants and average annual levels of particulate matter less than 2.5 m in diameter (PM2.5) in Florida during the study period from 2003 to 2005. 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. D . L If something happens to go wrong at a nuclear reactor, anyone living in a 10-mile radius of the plant may You'll receive your first NRDC action alert and Florida has relatively high power plant emissions (16, 24) that provide a unique opportunity to investigate the potential association between power plant emissions and adverse birth outcomes. NOXandSO2emissions contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone and fine PM, which can lead to respiratory and cardiovascular problems, and exposure to mercury can increase the possibility ofhealthissues ranging from cancer to immune system damage. TH This practice, although The national average for each demographic is shown in parentheses. (* edit). MS 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). Something ignited the gas that was being used in a scheduled cleaning procedure at the Kleen Energy Plant in Connecticut. The graph below displays the number of plants located in or near communities which meet or exceed the 80thpercentile nationally for each key demographic. The type of nearest power plant was also identified by fuel type. Minority, low-income, and indigenous populations frequently bear a disproportionate burden of environmental harms and 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. Sandie Ha, Hui Hu, Jeffrey Roth, Haidong Kan, Xiaohui Xu, Associations Between Residential Proximity to Power Plants and Adverse Birth Outcomes, American Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 182, Issue 3, 1 August 2015, Pages 215224, https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwv042. Morara M A Text "SCIENCE" to 67369 or sign up online. S J Time is Running Out, Motorola's handy Bluetooth device adds satellite messaging to your iPhone or Android smartphone, Linux 6.2: The first mainstream Linux kernel for Apple M1 chips arrives, Sony's new headphones adopt WH-1000XM5 technology for less than half the price, The perfectly pointless $197 gadget that some people will love. Union of Concerned Scientists Lets make sure that does not happen. The impacts of power plant emissions are not limited to the areas near power plants. International energy information, including overviews, rankings, data, and analyses. H WebNatural gas power plants produce considerable carbon dioxide, although less than coal plants do. Geer T Wellhead natural gas may contain contaminants and hydrocarbon gas liquids (HGLs) that must be removed before the natural gas can be safely delivered to the high These associations remained consistent for PTD and VPTD when exposures were categorized (Table2). et al. a Adjusted for maternal age, maternal race, marital status, census block group income, and urban neighborhood. H Consequently, daily activity patterns cannot entirely explain the increased risk that we found. A Bell The power sector has significantly reduced many of these pollutants over the past two decades, but important health and environmental concerns persist. Bronson More information about the Power Plant Retirements map can be foundhere. Please click here to see any active alerts. with both a low-income percentage and people of color percentage greater than the national averages. Natural gas already emits half the CO 2 emissions of a coal-fired power plant. A lock (LockA locked padlock) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. We also created 20 km buffers around each birth and determined the total number of power plants within this buffer (Table4). EM M Midwest Senior Policy Manager. Lesson plans, science fair experiments, field trips, teacher guide, and career corner. Yli-Tuomi Y Chang In Scheme 1, the syngas that results from coal gasification was divided into two parts; one part went to the 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. An official website of the United States government. Chang De Mouzon 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. Manzanares R In general, PM2.5 concentrations tend to cluster around areas with more power plants (Figure1). 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. All rights reserved. b Nuclear plants are categorized differently because there are no births with 2 or more nuclear plants within 20 km. We strongly caution natural gas power plants and other industries against the venting of high-pressure natural gas in or near work sites. WebGangadharan et al. Lee In categorical exposure analyses, no association was found. Figure1 shows a map of the spatial distribution of active power plants and the average annual PM2.5 concentrations in Florida during 20032005. This practice, although common, is inherently unsafe. 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. Overall, the percentages of people living closer to power plants were higher among those with adverse birth outcomes compared with those among controls. a Adjusted for maternal age, maternal race, education, marital status, census block group income, and urban neighborhood. Quadrant D shows power plants located in or nearcommunities with both the low-income and people of color percentages less than the national averages. et al. We also compared the odds for different buffer sizes of <5, 59.9, 1019.9, and 20 km from a power plant. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is home to the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). But coal is just about the dirtiest way to produce electricity, so almost anything will seem cleaner in comparison. Chen et al. Quadrant A shows power plants located in or near communities with a low-income percentage greater than the national average and less than the people of color national average. Tools to customize searches, view specific data sets, study detailed documentation, and access time-series data. But HUD goes further and states that "Operating and abandoned oil and gas wells pose potentialhazards to housing, including potential fire, explosion,spray and other pollution.No existing dwelling may be located closer than 300 feet from an active or planned drilling site. To make long-term gains against infection inequity, infectious disease epidemiology needs to develop a more sociological imagination. When stratified for different types of power plants, the results remained generally consistent. Of people living closer to power plants, no association was found Development ( HUD ) is home to.gov... M a Text `` SCIENCE '' to 67369 or sign up online combustion devises - such as flares - consume... 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