Polluted Cities and PM2.5

A recent report stated the following: “Air pollution remains a prevalent health crisis around the world, with many cities recording dangerous levels of air pollution, some over 15 times the recommended annual limit of 5ug/m3 by the World Health Organization. Studies have found evidence that air pollution levels are positively correlated with the risk of disease from stroke, lung cancer, heart disease, and respiratory disease. ⁽¹⁾

Here are the alleged top 25 most polluted cities in the world:

To base total pollution on PM2.5 is a major stretch

Of the 25 most polluted cities in the world, 10 were located in China, 8 in India, and 2 in Pakistan. Pollution levels ranged from 114.5 ug/m3 in Dhaka, Bangladesh to 44.9 ug/m3 in Tianjin, China.” ⁽¹⁾

The term alleged is used because the EPA has established an Air Quality Index for five major pollutants regulated by the Clean Air Act:

• - ground level ozone
• - carbon monoxide
  
• - sulfur dioxide
  
• - nitrogen dioxide
  
• - particle pollution (also known as particulate matter, including PM2.5 and PM10

So an obvious question is how does one conclude from just one of the five pollutants on the EPA's list that a location has the worst air pollution in the world? Indeed, the above 25 may be the most polluted in the world, but to base total pollution on PM2.5 is a major stretch.

Let's look at PM2.5

PM2.5 tops the list all by itself is because it gets a lot of press, and most often the press is exaggerated or simply put, just wrong.

Let's look at PM2.5.

PM2.5 is fine airborne soot and dust. A PM2.5 particle is about one twentieth the width of a human hair. The soot from PM2.5 is emitted by all forms of man-made and natural combustion: from fossil fuel plant smokestacks; truck and automobile exhaust pipes; and furnaces, fireplaces, and barbeques to wildfires and volcanoes. The dust from of PM2.5 exists as pollen, pet dander, dust and mold. Smokers of all sorts inhale PM2.5 in massive amounts, especially compared to PM2.5 levels in outdoor air. You may think that last point condemns PM2.5 as a killer. But it actually is among the best evidence that PM2.5 doesn't kill anyone. ⁽²⁾

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How many people do you know who died from air pollution?

EPA claims that natural and man-made PM2.5 causes as many as 500,000 deaths annually. Think about this statistic for a moment. This figure represent 25% of all US annual deaths. ⁽³⁾

How many people do you know who died from air pollution? I'm hard pressed to come up with one name, yet 25%?

The EPA has been conducting controlled human exposure studies to air pollution on the University of North Carolina campus for more than thirty years. During that time more than six thousand volunteers have been studied without a single serious adverse event being observed. So is there a health problem to investigate or not? How much more testing looking to define a disease? It looks more like a disease concept in search of a susceptible victim. ⁽⁴⁾

Six independent sources showed little or no relationship between PM2.5 and deaths in California. One study, by UCLA's Dr. James Enstron of the long-term relationship between PM2.5 air pollution and mortality followed nearly 50,000 elderly Californians over a 30-year period, from 1973 through 2002. It concluded that there was no death effect from current atmospheric levels of PM2.5 in California. ⁽⁵⁾

Evidence From China

Chinese cities have some of the worst pollution in the world. Two are Xi'an and Shanghai, yet reports claim the life expectancy in both cities is higher than in the US. Even though air in Xi'an is, on average, 9-10 times more polluted in PM2.5 particles than the median PM2.5 levels of the two most polluted cities in a 112 US city study (Rubidoux, CA and Los Angeles, CA), it is safer than US air by a factor of five. ⁽⁶⁾

Then there's Shanghai. On December 6, 2013 Shanghai's PM2.5 level exceeded 600 ug/m3, about 60 times the average level of PM2.5 in US air. So, Shanghai's death rate should be quite high e.g., 60 times higher. But no such death rates were reported. In fact, no increase in death rates at all was reported. ⁽⁷⁾

And like with Xi'an it's worth noting that the life expectancy for Shanghai (84.11 years) is higher than in the US.

According to the EPA, every 10 ug/m3 increase in PM2.5 raises the death rate by about 1%. so Shanghai's death rate should be quite high, e.g., 60 times higher on December 6, 2013 alone. ⁽⁸⁾

But no such death rate was reported. In fact, no increase in deaths at all was reported.

And, like with Xi'an (which is listed above in the top 25 worst polluted cities)

it's worth noting that the life expectancy in Shanghai (82.47 Years) is higher than that in the US.

So, what's to make of all this? If you are looking for pollution, PM2.5 is not the place to look.

If you are looking for pollution, PM2.5 is not the place to look

Today, United States air is remarkably clean, especially when compared to 50 years ago. Incidents of serious air pollution are rare. According to EPA, the concentration of six major air pollutants, lead, nitrous oxides, sulfur dioxide, ozone and particulates, are down more than a combined 70 percent sine 1980. ⁽⁹⁾

Air quality is very good pretty much everywhere in the United States. This fact stands in stark contrast to utterly absurd claims in the media.

Why is there such a disconnect between reality and what the media says? Because bad news in intrinsically more interesting than good news. ⁽¹⁰⁾

A map provided by the World Health Organization depicts mean annual PM2.5 air pollution in 2014 shows that the United States, along with Australia, Canada, and Scandinavia, has some of the cleanest air in the world.

Then in 2016, the air was cleaner than it was in 2014. The air in Europe and Japan got cleaner, too.

Air pollution is not a problem in the United States. It is a monumental problem in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. ⁽¹⁰⁾

References

1. 1. Tyler Vanzo, “Top 25 cities with worst ir pollution (2024 rankings),” smartairfilters.com, February 27, 2024
2. Steve Milloy, “PM2.5: mass killer or mass fraud?”, junkscience.com, March 8, 2023
3. Steve Milloy, “Fact sheet: EPA's claim that its coal plant CO2 rules will save lives by reducing particulate matter emissions is false,” junkscience.com, November 25, 2014
4. Steve Milloy, “Charles Battig- masterful presentation on why the EPA is not to be trusted on air pollution human health effects,” junkscience.com, July 5, 2015
5. James E.. Enstron, “Fine particulate air pollution and coarse particulate air pollution on mortality: a national analysis,” Environment Health Perspectives 117(6), 898, 2009
6. Junji Cao et al., “Fine particle constituents and cardiopulmonary mortality in a heavily polluted Chinese city,” Environmental Health Perspectives, January 3, 2012
7. Viola Ke, “Life expectancy figure continues to rise in city,” shanghaidaily.com, January 17, 2014
8. Steve Milloy, “If air pollution kills, why doesn't it kill Chinese?”, junkscience.com, May 21, 2015
9. Steve Gorham, “With pollution levels dropping, is small particle air pollution really killing Americans?”, wattsupwiththat.com, July 1, 2015
10. Alex Berezow, “American air is clean and getting cleaner,” acsh.org, August 14, 2018

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