The Real Risk Of Unregulated Air Pollution

Sometimes the most valuable research turns out to be a confirmation of the obvious.   Fitting that bill is the study released yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science documenting the substantially decreased life expectancy among people in China living in areas where coal has for many decades been used to heat homes.   The study is based on a long-standing policy in China of distributing coal free to residents who live north of the Huai River but not to people living south of the river.  In comparing life expectancies, the study found that people living north of the river were exposed to significantly higher total suspended particulates in the air and had a life expectancy of roughly five years less than those living south of the river.   That significant difference in life expectancy can be explained almost entirely by a larger mortality rate north of the Huai River from cardiorespiratory diseases typically associated with exposure to air