Study links oil and gas air pollution to 91,000 U.S. deaths per year

A new international study concludes that air pollution linked to oil and gas production and use kills about 91,000 Americans each year and contributes to hundreds of thousands more health problems, with communities of color bearing the greatest burden. The researchers, who mapped pollution across the entire oil and gas lifecycle—from extraction to end use—also found stark racial disparities: Indigenous and Latino communities face the highest impact during the extraction and transport phases, while Black and Asian communities are more affected by emissions from refining, distribution, and consumption. The report underscores that the public health cost is concentrated in states with large fossil fuel activity, such as California, Texas, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and suggests the toll would be even higher with current production and consumption levels not reflected in the 2017 data.

The study links a wide spectrum of health outcomes to oil and gas pollution, including 10,350 preterm births, 216,000 new childhood asthma cases, and 1,610 lifetime cancers annually. It attributes nearly all of the observed health impacts to three pollutants—nitrogen oxides, fine...