After adjustment for potential confounders, living closer to any power plant increased the odds of all adverse birth outcomes compared with living farther away. SC RD In Scheme 1, the syngas that results from coal gasification was divided into two parts; one part went to the Second, just because the electric sector is cleaner than the transportation sector does not mean the electric sector is not dirty. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Natural gas delivery infrastructure has three categories: Natural gas transported on the mainline natural gas transportation (pipeline) system in the United States must meet specific quality measures so that the pipeline network (or grid) provides uniform-quality natural gas. Accessed December 17, 2014, Association between gaseous ambient air pollutants and adverse pregnancy outcomes in Vancouver, Canada, Ambient air pollution and term birth weight in Texas from 1998 to 2004, Traffic-related air toxics and term low birth weight in Los Angeles County, California, Association between local traffic-generated air pollution and preeclampsia and preterm delivery in the south coast air basin of California, Emissions of Hazardous Air Pollutants from Coal-fired Power Plants, Exposure to air pollution during different gestational phases contributes to risks of low birth weight, Congenital abnormalities and indicators of germinal mutations in the vicinity of the Paks nuclear plant, Hungary, Risk factors for low birth weight: a review. Furthermore, among the case groups, the percentages of women who had lower education, were black, lived in neighborhoods with lower income, were unmarried, had no prenatal care, smoked, or drank alcohol during pregnancy were higher compared with those in the control group (Table1). An official website of the United States government. We further stratified analyses for different types of plants. For VPTD, only oil and solid waste plants had significant associations. Catov Tsai These analyses showed consistent results, suggesting that residual confounding was unlikely. We further stratify these associations by fuel type. 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. spreadsheet presents all the information available through EPA's environmental justice mapping and screening tool,EJSCREEN. Table3 presents the adjusted associations between proximity to power plants and term LBW, PTD, and VPTD by nearest power plant type. Sign up for email subcriptions to receive messages about specific EIA products. KO S RD M On average, males weigh 150 and 200 g more than females (36) given term birth, and they have a 9%24% increased risk for PTD (37). Zhu Official websites use .gov VPTD was defined as a birth that occurred before 32 weeks of gestation. Spengler Maps by energy source and topic, includes forecast maps. Short, timely articles with graphics on energy, facts, issues, and trends. The term LBW was defined as a birth weighing less than 2,500 g at birth and born at or after 37 weeks of gestation. Workers might also use air, steam, nitrogen, or water *in lieu of natural gas. ommunities with a people of color percentage greater than the national average and a low-income percentage less than the national average. 2 Brattle Square, Cambridge MA 02138, USA Anenberg et al. JJ More research is warranted to better understand the causal relationship. 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. Chen JL Because living near power plants may expose people to additional sources of air pollution, this proximity may increase their risk of having negative health endpoints. It is an environmental justice screening and mapping tool that utilizes standarddata to highlight places that may have higher environmental burdens and vulnerable populations. Hu Natural gas provides a cost-effective option for After exclusion of births that had addresses outside Florida (n = 4,672); births that were missing address (n = 423), unable to geocode (e.g., only post office box available, n = 563), missing gestational age (n = 937), and multiple births (n = 13,686); and those with birth weight out of range (i.e., <500 and >5,000 g) (n = 903) and those with gestational age out of range (i.e., <140 days and >320 days) (n = 125), 423,719 births remained for analyses. 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. Our continuous exposure analysis showed that proximity to nuclear plants was protective against PTD, but not term LBW or VPTD. update email soon. 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. Brumberg When ultrasound is not available, fundal height (determined by clinical examination) or menstrual history is used to estimate gestational age. Forsberg Steve Clemmer C Moreover, these associations showed an exposure-response relationship with closer residents having the higher odds. 2 Brattle Square, Cambridge MA 02138, USA, produces less global warming emissions and air pollution, projections from the California Air Resources Board, concentrated in some of the most socioeconomically and environmentally disadvantaged communities. J We geocoded 423,719 singleton Florida births born from 2004 to 2005 and all active power plants and determined residential proximity to the nearest power plant for each birth. In fact, the rise of natural gas to become the leading U.S. fuel for generating electricity has lowered CO 2 emissions to their lowest levels in a generation. Reply STOP to cancel. Buonocore De Mouzon CA Furthermore, our data also showed that proximity to coal and solid waste plants was also correlated to higher PM2.5 emission, which is known to increase the odds of adverse birth outcomes (10). et al. J AR Bremner Mark Specht is the Western States Energy Manager/Senior Analyst for the Climate & Energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. LA These pollutants have been linked to adverse birth outcomes in many studies. Geer Table2 provides the unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios for the association between proximity to power plants and term LBW, PTD, and VPTD. Vijayaraghavan Energy & Financial Markets: What Drives Crude Oil Prices? MS Czeizel The impurities in wellhead natural gas determine the number of stages and the processes required to produce pipeline-quality, dry natural gas. The color of the marker indicates fuel type and the marker size represents projected retired nameplate capacity (MW). 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). Dominici X Ha These pollutants are known to contribute to 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. Williams For example, among those with term LBW, the percentage of those who lived within 5 km of any power plant (16.1%) was higher than that of controls (14.9%). U.S. Chemical Safety Board Lead Investigator Don Holmstrom said in a statement last week: We strongly caution natural gas power plants and other industries against the venting of high-pressure natural gas in or near work sites. Compared with pregnant women who lived with no power plants within a 20 km radius, women living near 2 power plants had a 7% increased odds of term LBW (OR = 1.07, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.12), 12% increased odds of PTD (OR = 1.12, 95% CI: 1.09, 1.15), and 17% increased odds of VPTD (OR = 1.17, 95% CI: 1.09, 1.25). A Bell M 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. Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. However, we have also used a fully adjusted model with all covariates in our directed acyclic graph. All active power plants during the study period and eligible births were geocoded and mapped using ArcGIS V10.1 (ESRI, Redlands, California). Updated January 2012. Our results for covariates were consistent with those of other studies. A) Daily concentrations of PM2.5 during the study period 20032005 at power plants; B) mean daily PM2.5 concentration at residential address during the first trimester for births in Florida from 2004 to 2005. Covariates were chosen on the basis of a directed acyclic graph (Supplementary Data available at http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/). This analysis yielded results consistent with proximity to power plants as a measure of exposure. All types of plants had a slightly elevated association with PTD, except nuclear plants, which had a negative association (OR = 0.90, 95% CI: 0.86, 0.95), and others and coal plants with no associations. J Sales, revenue and prices, power plants, fuel use, stocks, generation, trade, demand & emissions. A Better Way of Paying for a Reliable Electricity Grid, Minnesota Proves Its Readiness for Carbon-Free Electricity. Subscribe to feeds for updates on EIA products including Today in Energy and What's New. Ha Western States Energy Manager/Senior Analyst. . The Natural Resources Defense Council works to safeguard the earth - its people, Lets plan for a clean energy future that does not lead to even more air pollution in communities already afflicted with pollution. How strong is the radiation around a nuclear power plant direct outside at the containment? Pretty much the same as the natural background count. et al. Valero De Bernab Rabczenko Dong To compare continuous and categorical characteristics for participants with and without the 3 adverse birth outcomes, we performed t tests and 2 tests. H For example, for oil plants, we compared births within 20 km with births not within 20 km from any plant (e.g., excluding those who were closer to any other types of plant). After adjustment for potential confounders, the associations between proximity to power plants and adverse birth outcomes remained consistent. Roussos-Ross Lesson plans, science fair experiments, field trips, teacher guide, and career corner. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. First, natural gas power plants do not move they just sit there and emit NOx when they are operating. Hu Mangones Sign up or text "SCIENCE" to 67369. significantly reduced many of these pollutants over the past two decades, Mapping Power Plants and Neighboring Communities, GraphingPower Plants and Neighboring Communities, EJ Screening Reportfor the Clean Power Plan, Frequent Questions about Power Plants and Neighboring Communities, Power Plants and Neighboring Communities Webinar. N Ren Chen (617) 547-5552. 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