A study from the American Lung Association analyzes the impact of a nationwide transition to zero-emission transportation and electricity generation on children's health outcomes.
The study finds that almost 120 million Americans live in a community below the association's standards for harmful ozone and/or particle pollution levels. This includes 27.2 million children under the age of 18, which is 37% of all children in the United States.
“Generally, kids breathe in, sort of 50% more for their body weight than adults do just because their respiration is happening at a quicker rate," said Mike Seilback, national assistant vice president for state public policy at the American Lung Association. "And additionally, we know that pregnant people when they're breathing in air pollution, they're exposing the unborn children to high levels of air pollution that obviously they have no control over.”
One-third of all children with asthma in the U.S. are located within these communities. The group said exposure to both ozone and particle pollution during pregnancy has been linked to premature birth, low birth weight and stillbirth. Additionally, children exposed to pollution particles after birth are at greater risk for respiratory diseases like asthma, cardiovascular disease, reduced lung function and growth, and neurodevelopment disorders.
Seilback said Fairfield County is among the worst for pollution on the East Coast. He said switching to zero-emission transportation could prevent more than 27,000 pediatric asthma attacks as well as reduce several thousand children’s respiratory symptoms in Connecticut alone.
“Unfortunately, much of the air pollution of the country ends up settling over our region. And Fairfield County continually sees some of the worst ozone pollutions on the Eastern Seaboard in the American Lung Association's state of the air report," he said.
According to the study, low-income communities and communities of color are disproportionately burdened by air pollution. Often, communities of color are located closest to major roadways, and greening the transportation fleets could positively impact these communities.
"So we know that Connecticut residents continue to bear the brunt of air pollution, and that's why moving to cleaner, greener energy and cleaner greener vehicles will have a drastic impact and improvement on the health of our kids,” Seilback said.
The study urges local policymakers to adopt standards to move toward clean energy to prevent 2.8 million asthma attacks throughout the country. This includes moving 100% of new passenger vehicle sales to zero emissions by 2035, which Gov. Ned Lamont has backpedaled from in the 2024 legislative session.
Connecticut is aligned with other goals, including moving new medium- and heavy-duty vehicle sales to zero emissions and a clean, renewable electricity grid by 2040.
Additionally, the study calls for the EPA to finalize its pollution standards in order to help the U.S. transition away from combustion and toward a clean energy future. Seilback said zero-emission vehicles are just the first step in mitigating the negative health effects of climate change by burning less gas and coal and adopting more clean energy, like solar and wind.
