14 DAY TRIAL // Researchers from the John Hopkins University recently decided to investigate how things would have turned out if the Obama administration had agreed to implement new air quality standards just one year ago.
They came to the troubling conclusion that, since last September and up until now, because of smog – ozone, in particular –, a lot of Americans ended up suffering from respiratory conditions such as asthma and many of them even died.
As far as these scientists are concerned, as much as 4,130 deaths could have been avoided simply by going through the trouble of lowering the ozone standard to a certain extent.
However, seeing how accomplishing this cut down on air pollution would have required that $19 billion to $25 billion dollars (about €15,5 billion to €20,5 billion) went into greening-up American automobiles, industries and small businesses, the Obama administration decided that the threats posed to public health by smog were not worth these investments.
As explained by Environmental Health News, the urban areas in and around Los Angeles, New York City and Chicago are the one most affected by air pollution.
Apparently, a lot of the people living here suffer from asthma attacks and acute respiratory problems on a regular basis, primarily because the air they breathe is contaminated with various chemical compounds.
The team of John Hopkins University scientists makes a case of how “We contend that a more stringent standard would prevent a substantial number of adverse health outcomes.”
Thus, as they further go on to explain, should the national standard for ozone, which is presently set at 75 parts per billion, be lowered to 70 parts per billion, deaths having to do with breathing conditions caused by air pollution would fall behind by 67 percent.
Moreover, a limit of 60 parts per billion could very well save 7,990 lives on a yearly basis, and significantly improve on the overall health condition of Americans.
Hopefully, when faced with this evidence, the Obama administration will reconsider its decision to not invest in cutting down on air pollution, and efforts will soon be made to clean up the air Americans breathe.