Air Pollution From Oil And Gas Causes 91,000 Premature Deaths In The US Every Year

Scientists from University College London (UCL), Stockholm Environment Institute, George Washington University, and University of Colorado Boulder used advanced computer models to map air pollution from oil and gas activities across the US. This information was then paired with national data on health to estimate the impact of fossil fuel polluants on things like asthma, preterm birth, and early death.

“We used a state-of-the-science air quality model to separate air pollution caused by each major stage of the oil and gas lifecycle from other sources of air pollution. This enabled us to work out and compare health outcomes. What we found was striking: one in five preterm births and adult deaths linked to fine particulate pollution are from oil and gas. Even more concerning is that nearly 90 percent of new childhood asthma cases tied to nitrogen dioxide pollution were from this sector,” Dr Karn Vohra, lead study author and public health researcher at the University of Birmingham, who carried out the research while at UCL Geography, said in a statement.

Air pollution is pumped out from every stage of fossil fuel use, from exploration, extraction, and drilling (known as upstream), through to transport and storage (midstream), to refinement and its final use (downstream).

When it comes to consequences for health, the main offenders are nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), ozone (O₃), and fine particulate matter (PM_2.5), tiny specks of dust and soot that can penetrate deep into the lungs and even the bloodstream. Decades of medical research have shown strong links between these pollutants and a range of illnesses, particularly heart and lung diseases and other cardiovascular problems.

The study found that the health impacts fall unevenly in the US. It showed that ethnic minorities and marginalized racial groups face the greatest risks across all stages of the oil and gas supply chain. Native American and Hispanic communities are most exposed to upstream and midstream pollution, while Black and Asian populations are most affected by downstream and end-use emissions.

Downstream activities produce far less pollution overall than upstream and end-use stages, but they are linked to the greatest relative health impacts for Black communities. This is particularly true in eastern Texas, where the Permian and Eagle Ford basins are hubs for fossil fuel activities, and Southern Louisiana, a region with hundreds of petrochemical plants and refineries known as “Cancer Alley”.

In all likelihood, the study underestimates the true scale of harm. It only considered outdoor air pollution, plus it drew on data from 2017, the most recent year with complete records. Between then and 2023, US oil and gas production surged by 40 percent and consumption by 8 percent, meaning today’s toll is almost certainly higher.

And that’s before accounting for the vast greenhouse gas emissions – carbon dioxide, methane, carbon monoxide, and more – that drive climate change and its own cascade of health problems. Even if you set aside the overwhelming evidence of the planet warming, this latest study shows another good reason why the phase out of fossil fuels can’t come soon enough.

“Our study provides yet another compelling case for why we need to accelerate the phase-out of oil and gas production and combustion with hard numbers: hundreds of thousands of children, adults, and the elderly in the US could be saved from illnesses and early deaths every year,” said Dr Ploy Achakulwisut, co-author from Stockholm Environment Institute.

“We therefore have an imperative to not only urgently transition away from fossil fuels to achieve net-zero emissions to save lives in the long term from climate devastation, but also to save lives and minimize environmental injustices in the near term from air pollution exposure,” added Achakulwisut.

The new study is published in the journal Science Advances.