California - pollution causes 24,000 premature deaths

California Environmental Authorities reported that air pollution causes about 24 thousand premature deaths and investment of up to 70 billion dollars annually in medical care by health effects.

The state Office of the California Air Resources stated in a report that the estimated premature deaths from air pollution is almost three times what until now had been calculated.

Scientist Bart Croes, who wrote the report, said that when taking into account the damage they cause to human health, so-called “particulate” thin air pollution, the average number of premature deaths rose from about eight thousand to twenty four thousand per year.

The concept of premature mortality to the authorities in California refers to an average of ten years less longevity than normal.

California has the two regions with the most polluted air in the United States. The first place is the Los Angeles area, which includes five counties, and second is the San Joaquin Valley in the northern region of Los Angeles south of Sacramento.

By relying on studies conducted over the past five years, the report concludes that fine particles of air pollution are up to 70% more dangerous than had been thought until now.

The new estimate is based on analysis from the Federal, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the state version of that agency (CalEPA), as well as studies at the University of California, and the American Cancer Society.

The greatest impact of fine particles of pollution on human health affects the respiratory and cardiac systems, according to the report.

The air polluted with fine particles, which come mainly from industries and consumption of diesel, affects mostly child populations, according to the report.

For example, in the San Joaquin Valley, one in four children suffers from asthma resulting in the region investing about three billion dollars in medical care that the state authorities related to environmental pollution.