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  - Health costs to Californians, so far this year, of port related pollution in California.
The Ports of LA  Long Beach Clean Air Action Plan passed in November 2006, and 1500 clean trucks service the ports.
Port Pollution Facts
  • In Long Beach, 20% of children under 17 have been diagnosed with asthma - nearly twice the national average.
  • $67 million: The cost of respiratory problems associated with ports in CA.
  • Diesel Exhaust is responsible for 84% of the cancer risk from air pollution in the Southern California Air Basin.
  • $19 BILLION: Cost on health system due to port pollution. average.
  • Each day the Port of LA emits over 30 tons of NOx, while a half a million cars emits less than 24 tons and the average power plant emits less than 5 tons.
  • 2,400 - Estimated number of premature deaths caused by diesel emissions.
  • 800,000: Number of children that pollution reduction could save from lung disease.
  • Each day the Port of Los Angeles emits over 30 tons of NOx, while a half a million cars emits less than 24 tons and the average power plant emits less than 5 tons.

Health Facts

 

Port Pollution Poisoning is responsible for dramatically higher rates of death, disease, and reduced quality of life. Its effects extend throughout the region, far beyond the neighborhoods closest to the ports. In fact ports are the largest single source of pollution in the Los Angeles region

Despite the recession trade is still expected to double over the next decade, and the impact of port pollution will only get worse. Without serious action to use clean and renewable fuels, in just a few years port-related pollution in California will emit more smog and toxics than all the cars on our roads.

The health effects of pollution from ports include asthma, other respiratory diseases, cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, and premature death. In children and adults, these pollutants have been linked with asthma and bronchitis, and high levels of the pollutants have been associated with increases in emergency room visits, lost days of work and school, and even death. And children living near busy diesel trucking routes are more likely to suffer from decreased lung function, asthma, wheezing, bronchitis, and allergies.

Health Facts

  • Diesel emissions cause at least 3700 premature deaths a year, and are responsible for 84 percent of the cancer risk from air pollution in the Southern California Basin.
  • In the Los Angeles area, port sources emit many times more smog-forming pollutants than all power plants in the Southern California region combined, and more than the region’s six million cars.
  • Half of all Californians live within one mile of a major freeway, and adults and children who live close to traffic corridors have significantly higher rates of cancer, asthma, heart and lung disease, and permanently decreased lung function.
  • Pollution from port-related activities has been linked to low birth weight, preterm delivery, and cardiovascular birth defects.

 

Resources

  1. "Emissions Reduction Plan for Ports and Goods Movement in California." California Air Resources Board (CARB), 2006.
  2. "Harboring Pollution: The Dirty Truth About Port Pollution." Diane Bailey, Thomas Plenys, Gina Solomon, Todd Campbell, Gail Ruderman Feuer, Julie Masters and Bella Tonkonogy. NRDC, August 2004.
  3. Environmental Protection Agency.1996 National Air Toxics Assessment. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 1996.
  4. "Clearing the Air.” Michelle Ernst, James Corless and Ryan Greene-Roesel. 2003.
  5. 2005 Los Angeles County Health Survey, Los Angeles County Department of Health.
  6. McConnell, R., Berhane, K., Yao, L., Jerrett, M., Lurmann, F., Gilliland, F., Kunzli, N., Gauderman, J., Avol, E., Thomas, D., & Peters, J. (2006). Traffic, susceptibility, and childhood asthma. Environmental Health Perspectives,114, 766-72.
  7. "Multiple Air Toxic Exposure Study III" (MATES III), South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD), January 2008.