Study ties up to 12.5% of Pittsburgh area adult deaths to air pollution

By MEGAN TROTTER
TribLive

A Boston College study suggests dire impact of particulate matter on the region.

Air pollution in the Pittsburgh region was linked to as many as 12.5% of adult deaths in 2019, according to a study published in the journal Annals of Global Health, with the highest levels of fine particulate matter recorded in Allegheny County.

Researchers from Boston College found that exposure to air pollution across eight counties in southwestern Pennsylvania was associated with higher mortality rates, reduced IQ scores in children and negative birth outcomes.

“It’s always harrowing when you see figures of adult deaths,” said Patrick Campbell, executive director of the nonprofit Group Against Smog & Pollution. “It’s just one of those things – air pollution makes people sick.”

The study, titled “Particulate Air Pollution, Disease, and Death in the Cities and Towns of Southwestern Pennsylvania,” focused on PM2.5, a fine particulate matter small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs, linked to severe health risks.

Researchers took annual PM2.5 air pollution concentrations from 2016 — the most recent data available — for each census tract from NASA’s satellite-based Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center map and linked them with vital records from the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

Funded by The Heinz Endowments and published Jan. 28, the study covered Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Lawrence, Washington and Westmoreland counties.

“Of 27,224 adult deaths in the Pittsburgh (metropolitan region) in 2019, we estimate that between 3,085 and 3,467 (11.1%–12.5%) were attributable to PM2.5 pollution,” the study’s abstract said.

While PM2.5 is the pollutant most consistently linked to adverse health effects, the researchers noted the study had several limitations, including that it examined only PM2.5 — just one of many components of air pollution.

“This limitation may be particularly important in a heavily industrialized region such as southwestern Pennsylvania, where point sources of industrial pollution, such as steel mills, coke works and chemical plants, release multiple air pollutants in addition to PM2.5,” the study said.

The study also found that 229 premature births, 177 low‑weight births and 12 stillbirths could be attributed to air pollution.

Among the 24,604 children born in the Pittsburgh region in 2019, the study found that pollution was linked to the loss of 60,668 IQ points.

However, Campbell said that he believes research linking air pollution to IQ is still a burgeoning science.

One of the study’s authors, Philip Landrigan, director of Boston College’s Global Public Health and the Common Good program, said he was traveling on Monday and unavailable to provide comment.

Other authors include Research Associate for Global Observatory on Planetary Health Ella Whitman, Environmental Analyst for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection Luke Bryan and Environmental Justice-Climate Change Scholar for Boston Children’s Hospital Sancia Sehdev.

Whitman, Bryan and Sehdev could not be reached for comment on Monday.

While Campbell said particulate matter levels have slowly been decreasing across the counties since 2019, the study found that Allegheny County had an annual mean PM2.5 concentration of 9.77 micrograms per cubic meter — the highest of all counties tested.

Washington County had the lowest, with an annual mean PM2.5 concentration 7.92 micrograms per cubic meter.

Allegheny County Health Department officials had not yet reviewed the study on Monday and therefore declined to provide comment.