BACKGROUND:Oil and gas development (OGD) can release numerous hazards, such as air and water pollution. Residential proximity to OGD is associated with adverse health outcomes in children, including birth defects and cancer. OBJECTIVE:While children spend significant time at school, little is known about school-based exposure. We quantified the number of K-12 U.S. schools near OGD and evaluated whether exposure varied by school-level sociodemographic status. METHODS:We combined public school data from the National Center for Educational Statistics with OGD well location data. We estimated proximity and density of active OGD within 800 m, 1.6 km, and 10 km buffers for each school during the 2022-2023 school year. We used logistic regression with state fixed effects to estimate associations between OGD exposure and schools having >50% students of non-Hispanic White race, Hispanic ethnicity, and free/reduced lunch eligibility, overall and stratified by rurality. RESULTS:29,649 (29.2%) of U.S. public schools were within 10 km of OGD. Overall, predominantly White (OR: 1.37, 95% CI: [1.32-1.43]) and free/reduced lunch eligibility (1.14 [1.09-1.19]) schools were more likely to be within 10 km of OGD. In rural areas, schools with predominantly Hispanic and free/reduced lunch-eligible students had 1.51 (1.15-1.97) and 1.20 (1.00-1.45) times the odds of being within 800 m of OGD, respectively; this was consistent in micropolitan, but not metropolitan, areas. Schools with predominantly non-Hispanic White students were more likely to be near OGD (800 m: 2.10 [1.93-2.27]) only in metropolitan areas. SIGNIFICANCE:Over 14.5 million students attended schools within 10 km of OGD in 2022-2023. These schoolchildren often disproportionately came from persistently marginalized groups compared to their less-exposed peers, and patterns varied strongly by urbanicity. Exposure to OGD while at school may harm students' health and academic development, especially among children in low-resource settings. IMPACT STATEMENT:This study provides new information on estimating exposure to OGD in U.S. public schools nationwide. More than 14.5 million U.S. public school students were potentially exposed to OGD during the 2022-2023 school year, and these school children tended to be from consistently marginalized groups. Exposure to OGD at school may be detrimental to students' health and academic development, and these effects may be amplified in low-resource settings. This work has potential health implications for any state with oil and gas development, which should be considered in ongoing policy discussions on public health protection, particularly as regulations change.

Greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels are routinely counted in energy and climate policies, yet the immediate health burden of air pollution emissions from combusting these fuels is rarely quantified alongside. Particularly, the European Union (EU) comprises countries with diverse energy mixes, emission characteristics, reduction technologies, and policy frameworks, leading to large variations in the impacts of energy consumption on climate, air quality, and public health. Understanding these country-level variations is critical to optimize regional energy policies and reduce climate and health disparities in the EU. This study quantifies the regional variations in both climate and health impacts of energy consumption across EU countries. In countries where coal or oil dominates power supply, the health impacts of electricity consumption can be larger than climate impacts by more than ten times (e.g. Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece), highlighting the necessity of incorporating health impacts into climate and energy policies. We found a significant variability in health impacts per electricity usage (1.4–1508 € MWh ^−1 ) among EU countries, largely driven by their energy source mix. The health benefits of sustainable energy strategies can be notably higher in Eastern Europe countries than those in Western or Northern Europe. For instance, saving the same amount of electricity in Estonia could achieve health benefits 1043 times greater than in Sweden. Furthermore, our results suggest that energy policies and reports with biomass lumped into renewables can overlook its potential health burden. The dataset of climate and health impact factors produced in this study can be useful for future research, practice, and policymaking to quantify the burdens of energy consumption or assess the benefits of energy efficiency measures in the EU.

Onroad vehicular emissions can adversely affect the health of people both near-road and regionally through exposure to O3, NO2, and PM2.5. While multiple studies have characterized the overall air quality and health benefits of emissions from the transportation sector, fewer studies have modeled the benefits of transportation policies at higher geographic resolution relevant to communities. We used the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA)'s Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) Version 5.2.1 coupled with the decoupled direct method (DDM) within a nested grid with maximum resolution of 1.33 km × 1.33 km. We predicted O3, NO2, and PM2.5 sensitivities to a large matrix of input parameters concerning five different vehicle classes, five precursors, and six subregions within the Boston metropolitan area (Massachusetts, U.S.). We used the Environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program in R (BenMAPR) to estimate health impacts given concentration-response functions from epidemiological studies, focusing on premature mortalities as well as asthma exacerbations. Based upon the sensitivity matrix, for NO2 and PM2.5, NOx and directly emitted PM2.5 (PPM) have the maximum sensitivity, respectively. O3 is found to be more sensitive to VOC emissions than NOx emissions. We also found that NH3 and SO2 emissions are the next most significant contributors to PM2.5 concentrations after PPM. Our overall findings suggest that approximately 342 premature deaths (95 % CI: 200-465) occur annually in the region due to on-road emissions, with 87 % of these linked to elevated NO2 concentrations. For PM2.5 from PPM, the most densely populated subregion had damages per ton 1.2 to 1.8 times higher than for the other inner core regions and three times higher than suburban regions. Substantial variation in health damages per ton of emissions was observed across precursor pollutants, source regions, and vehicle classes, underscoring the need for targeted emission reduction strategies. This study highlights the importance of high-resolution air quality modeling to accurately capture intra-urban health impacts and inform effective policymaking.

An estimated 18 million Americans reside within 1.6 km (1 mile) of an oil and gas development (OGD) facility. OGD often creates cycles of economic boom-and-busts, resulting in precarious employment, social disruptions, and environmental stressors, which may have mental health consequences. Among counties with OGD, we used Medicaid claims data to calculate annual county-level counts of inpatient hospitalizations with psychiatric diagnoses (n = 3.6 million hospitalizations, 2001-2011). Each county-year combination was classified by the trajectory of OGD resource production: boom (economic growth), bust (economic decline), and status quo (comparison group). Using a quasi-experimental panel data study design, we observed a small increase in annual county-level inpatient psychiatric hospitalization rates for the bust period (incidence rate ratio [IRR]: 1.05, 95% CI: 1.00, 1.11) but not the boom period (IRR: 1.02, 95% CI: 0.96, 1.07). Associations in the bust period were stronger among beneficiaries who identified as White race, resided in rural areas, and lived in a county with the lowest tertile of median household income. In cause-specific models, the size of the effect estimate was larger among the categories for attention disorders, anxiety disorders, and mood disorders. Stratified models by sociodemographic characteristics and cause-specific hospitalizations were broadly null in the boom period. Our results suggest that cycles of economic boom-and-busts, as measured by oil and gas production, may have deleterious impacts in the bust period on the mental health of the Medicaid population. However, future research is needed to elucidate the complex impacts of boom-and-bust cycles for resource-dependent communities.

The evidence is clear that fossil fuels—and the fossil fuel industry and its enablers—are driving a multitude of interlinked crises that jeopardize the breadth and stability of life on Earth. Every stage of the fossil fuel life cycle—extraction, processing, transport, and combustion or conversion to petrochemical products—emits planet-heating greenhouse gases and health-harming pollutants, in addition to causing widespread environmental degradation. We review the vast scientific evidence showing that fossil fuels and the fossil fuel industry are the root cause of the climate crisis, harm public health, worsen environmental injustice, accelerate biodiversity extinction, and fuel the petrochemical pollution crisis. Fossil fuels are responsible for millions of premature deaths, trillions of dollars in damages, and the escalating disruption of ecosystems, threatening people, wildlife, and a livable future. The fossil fuel industry has obscured and concealed this evidence through a decades-long, multi-billion-dollar disinformation campaign aimed at blocking action to phase out fossil fuels. We focus on the United States as the world’s largest oil and gas producer and dominant contributor to these fossil fuel crises. We present the science-and-justice-based solutions that already exist for governments and civil society to restrict the influence of the fossil fuel industry, stop fossil fuel expansion, phase out fossil fuel production and use, and make a rapid, just transition to clean, renewable energy and materials across the economy, while holding the fossil fuel industry accountable for its deception and damages. The necessary transition away from fossil fuels will provide innumerable societal and planetary benefits and forge a path forward to sustaining life on Earth.

Increased electrification of the transportation sector promises to both decrease emissions from the largest sector source of greenhouse gases as well as improve health through better air quality. The objective of this study is to evaluate the distribution of air quality health benefits of Medium- and Heavy-Duty Electric Vehicle (MHDEV) policies in New York City (NYC), quantifying differences across neighborhoods (census tracts) and population subgroups (race, ethnicity). We ran an integrated model for a 2040 baseline/business-as-usual scenario and for two policy scenarios simulating different rates of MHDEV adoption, also for 2040. Changes in air quality (fine particulate matter (PM _2.5 ) and nitrogen dioxide (NO _2 )) and health and economic benefits were calculated for the two policy scenarios. We used a modified version of our previously developed ZIP Code-Level Air Pollution Policy Assessment tool which integrates two reduced form models: the Community Air Quality Tools and the Co-Benefits Risk Assessment Health Impacts Screening and Mapping Tool. Our air quality modeling employed a novel receptor network to capture sharp gradients due to medium- and heavy-duty vehicle (MHDV) emissions in the densely populated NYC region. We find that electrification of MHDVs would have substantial air pollution and health benefits for NYC, with full on-road electrification of MHDVs saving $2.4 billion in health costs in 2040, including the prevention of 248 deaths and 173 childhood asthma emergency departments visits. We find that NO _2 benefits contributed between 85% and 97% of the total health benefits, emphasizing its importance for on-road health studies. We find that most health benefits would occur in neighborhoods with the highest percentage of historically marginalized populations, including substantial benefits to Hispanic populations.

Cool roof coatings are a potential climate change adaptation technique to reduce indoor temperature and energy needs. Little is known, however, on how cool roof coatings adhere to mudbrick and corrugated metal sheets, roofing substrates that are common in climate hotspots such as the African Sahel. To determine adhesion, we used manual peeling tests of cool roof coatings on mudbrick and corrugated metal sheets using heat chambers conditioned to 40 °C, and heat/humidity chambers conditioned to 35 °C with 90 % humidity. We found that cool roof coatings showed no blistering or delamination when exposed to heat and humidity. Adhesion of product to substrate was strong for the corrugated metal, even when rusted (manual peel test, level 3), and minimal on the mudbrick samples (manual peel test, level 1). Application of a primer resin consolidated the powdery mudbrick substrate, improving ease of cool roof coating application and slightly improving adhesion. We recommend three modifications to increase longevity of cool roof coatings to the mudbrick roofs: (i) extending the cool roof coating over the lip of the roof onto the wall, (ii) using fiberglass reinforcement or mechanical fixation on the edges, and (iii) using a primer resin to consolidate the powdery mudbrick prior to application of the cool roof coating.

Oil and gas development is a rapidly expanding industry that may impact population health. However, much of the research to date is conducted state-by-state, partially due to exposure data limitations. New developments related to national-scale oil and gas development data sources offer the opportunity to extend studies beyond single-state analyses. We review the current data options, highlighting their advantages, disadvantages, and ideal use-cases. Five data sources suitable for national-scale epidemiologic analyses of oil and gas development were identified. Private sector data offer detailed production information but have limited accessibility. Nongovernmental sources are often specialized, focusing on specific aspects like chemical or methane exposure. Government agency data, while typically less detailed, provide useful linkage tools for cross-industry analysis. This review clarifies the strengths and limitations of these sources, facilitating national-level exposure assessment and broadening the geographic reach of oil and gas development-related epidemiology in the U.S.

Background Many climate mitigation policies to reduce transportation emissions have public health benefits related to ambient air pollution. However, few health analyses consider the equity implications of alternative policies. Equity can be conceptualized in many different ways that may be relevant to communities, decision-makers, and other stakeholders. Objectives To evaluate alternative transportation emissions reduction scenarios across the northeastern United States considering population exposure reductions and multiple equity constructs. Methods We developed four quantitative indicators reflecting equity constructs that aligned with stakeholder perspectives, including racial/ethnic exposure inequities, proportion of benefits in environmental justice communities, distribution of benefits among participating states, and rural/urban share of benefits. We analyzed numerous transportation emissions reduction scenarios for directly emitted fine particulate matter (primary PM2.5) covering 12 Northeast states and the District of Columbia. We used the Community Multiscale Air Quality model with the decoupled direct method to estimate the reduction in population-weighted primary PM2.5 exposure and the impact on equity for each scenario. Results Scenarios that yielded greater reductions in population-weighted primary PM2.5 exposure generally emphasized emissions reductions in urban areas or states with large urban centers, with a more than threefold difference in benefits across scenarios. The higher exposure-benefit scenarios typically also had greater reductions in racial/ethnic exposure inequities but led to higher between-state or rural/urban inequality. Scenarios that targeted uniform percentage emission reductions from light or heavy-duty trucks best addressed rural/urban inequalities but led to the smallest reductions in racial/ethnic inequity. Conclusion There are intrinsic tradeoffs among equity constructs, where focusing resources on distributing benefits across states or between urban and rural populations could come at the expense of less reduction in racial/ethnic exposure inequities or in environmental justice communities. Future health benefits analyses should incorporate multiple equity indicators that reflect different stakeholder perspectives and articulate the underlying constructs and tradeoffs.

This Viewpoint discusses the need for research on and mitigation strategies for the potential community and population health effects of cryptocurrency mining, an energy-intensive and noise-producing industry.

Health impact assessments have estimated substantial health co-benefits of climate change mitigation strategies due to reductions in air pollution in the US; however, few studies have considered children’s health impacts and related equity implications. We estimated the potential health co-benefits to children related to improved air quality associated with various emissions cap and investment scenarios for the transportation sector in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic US proposed under the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI). We modeled changes in ambient fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide between 2022 and 2032 associated with on-road transportation sector emissions under nine hypothetical carbon dioxide (CO _2 ) emissions cap and investment scenarios proposed under TCI using the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model version 5.2. We estimated potential health co-benefits for adverse birth and pediatric respiratory and neurodevelopmental outcomes using an expanded version of the Environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program, known as BenMAPR. We also examined impacts on pediatric asthma exacerbations across racial/ethnic groups. We found that health benefits to children increased as the CO _2 emission caps became more ambitious. The combination of the highest emissions cap (25%) and the investment scenario which prioritized public transit improvement (Diversified strategy) conferred the greatest children’s health benefits for the majority of health outcomes considered, resulting in approximately $82 million per year in economic savings. Assessment of the distribution of avoided pediatric asthma exacerbations showed benefits across all racial and ethnic groups, with a slightly greater reduction in cases for non-White populations. Decarbonization policies in the transportation sector in the Eastern US have the potential to provide important air quality and pediatric health co-benefits.

Transportation is a leading contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and has become a focus for climate policies. Traffic‐related air pollution disproportionately affects environmental justice (EJ) communities—neighborhoods that have disproportionate exposure to environmental hazards, but health impact assessments rarely center EJ issues or prioritize the concerns of EJ communities. One explanation for the lack of focus on EJ communities is that both policymakers and academia have often failed to engage these communities. In this paper, academic researchers collaborate with seven EJ organizations in the northeastern US, working with collaboration advisors and facilitators, to design and evaluate potential transportation emissions reduction scenarios using air quality and health benefits modeling tools. We model and estimate the benefits of these scenarios, while working to build collaborative relationships between academic researchers and EJ organizations. The two primary outputs from this process are: quantification of health benefits attributable to emission reduction scenarios of interest to EJ organizations, and enhanced trust and community building between academic researchers and EJ organizations, with reflections on strengths, challenges, and opportunities for future work. We find the largest improvements to health result from scenarios that reduce car and truck traffic. Dialog between academic researchers and EJ organizations reinforce the disconnect between regional‐scale models and local community concerns as well as the more general gaps between statistical models and lived experience. Despite these challenges, the collaboration led to more meaningful models and valued insight for community organizations, and we recommend comparable collaborations in other settings where pollution control is being planned and evaluated in EJ communities.

AbstractConstructed with used plastic bottles, the eco-cooler has been widely adopted in resource-poor communities in Bangladesh and other countries. We tested the eco-cooler under controlled conditions using a scientific wind tunnel in a climatic chamber. In our tests, we used seven eco-cooler designs in 27 climate conditions typical of Bangladesh (temperatures of 40 °C, 35 °C, and 30 °C; humidity levels of 70%, 60%, and 40%; and wind speeds of 4.0 m s−1, 2.0 m s−1, and 0.2 m s−1) in 92 experiments (N = 7686 measurements in 87 short experiments and N = 23,428 measurements in five long experiments). We found no significant temperature reductions with eco-cooler use, except at low wind speeds, where temperature reduced by up to 0.2 °C. In theoretical calculations extending our empirical findings, the greatest temperature drop was 0.85 °C at 4.0 m s−1 with a 40 °C static air inflow temperature. However, this temperature drop did not extend beyond the nozzles of the bottles in the eco-cooler. The eco-cooler did not work effectively as an indoor air cooler.

Emissions from flaring and venting (FV) in oil and gas (O&G) production are difficult to quantify due to their intermittent activities and lack of adequate monitoring and reporting. Given their potentially significant contribution to total emissions from the O&G sector in the United States, we estimate emissions from FV using Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite satellite observations and state/local reported data on flared gas volume. These refined estimates are higher than those reported in the National Emission Inventory: by up to 15 times for fine particulate matter (PM2.5), two times for sulfur dioxides, and 22% higher for nitrogen oxides (NOx). Annual average contributions of FV to ozone (O3), NO2, and PM2.5 in the conterminous U.S. (CONUS) are less than 0.15%, but significant contributions of up to 60% are found in O&G fields with FV. FV contributions are higher in winter than in summer months for O3 and PM2.5; an inverse behavior is found for NO2. Nitrate aerosol contributions to PM2.5 are highest in the Denver basin whereas in the Permian and Bakken basins, sulfate and elemental carbon aerosols are the major contributors. Over four simulated months in 2016 for the entire CONUS, FV contributes 210 additional instances of exceedances to the daily maximum 8-hr average O3 and has negligible contributions to exceedance of NO2 and PM2.5, given the current form of the national ambient air quality standards. FV emissions are found to cause over $7.4 billion in health damages, 710 premature deaths, and 73,000 asthma exacerbations among children annually.

As the transportation sector continues to decarbonize through electrification, there is growing interest in quantifying potential tradeoffs in air pollution and health impacts due to potential excess emissions from the power sector. This study investigates air pollution and health impacts of policy-driven changes in the transportation sector and the associated power generation demand in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic United States. Five illustrative scenarios were designed to capture the effects of different policies under the first mandatory market-based program to reduce greenhouse gases in the US power sector (Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative-RGGI) and the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI). Considering future power generation with new renewable energy investments to meet demands from decarbonized transportation, the scenarios were framed using: 1. 2030 reference cases for both sectors and a hybrid TCI portfolio, 2. Departure from the reference cases defined by Pennsylvania included or not in RGGI, and 3. Power grid emissions estimated under clean energy standard (CES) policy and hybrid TCI portfolio. While the cross-sectoral policy effect on domain-wide concentrations is modest (max Delta PM2.5 similar to 0.06 mu g m3, Delta NO2 similar to 0.3 ppbv, Delta O3 similar to 0.15 ppbv), substantial increases in Ohio and West Virginia were attributed to Pennsylvania joining RGGI. With CES enacted and Pennsylvania in RGGI, significant reductions are seen in average concentrations (max Delta PM2.5 similar to 1.2 mu g m3, Delta NO2 similar to 1.1 ppbv, Delta O3 similar to 1.7 ppbv) except for Louisiana and Mississippi with corresponding disbenefits. When focusing exclusively on emissions reductions from transportation, the hybrid TCI portfolio had health benefits of 530 avoided adult deaths, and 46 000 avoided asthma exacerbations. With a 'business as usual' power grid, these benefits remain comparable and are mainly driven by NO2, followed by PM2.5 and O3. However, if Pennsylvania joins RGGI, total health benefits and spatial distribution change substantially, with a large portion of adverse health impacts moving from TCI states to Ohio and West Virginia. The overall monetized impact of a CES scenario can substantially exceed the estimated average range of 66-69 Billion US$, depending on the interaction with transportation decarbonization strategies and other drivers of exposure.

Background: Community socioeconomic deprivation (CSD) may be related to higher oil and natural gas development (OGD) exposure. We tested for distributive and benefit-sharing environmental injustice in Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale by examining (1) whether OGD and waste disposal occurred disproportionately in more deprived communities and (2) discordance between the location of land leased for OGD and where oil and gas rights owners resided.Materials and Methods: Analyses took place at the county subdivision level and considered OGD wells, waste disposal, and land lease agreement locations from 2005 to 2019. Using 2005-2009 American Community Survey data, we created a CSD index relevant to community vulnerability in suburban/rural areas.Results: In adjusted regression models accounting for spatial dependence, we observed no association between the CSD index and conventional or unconventional drilled well presence. However, a higher CSD index was linearly associated with odds of a subdivision having an OGD waste disposal site and receiving a larger volume of waste. A higher percentage of oil and gas rights owners lived in the same county subdivision as leased land when the community was least versus most deprived (66% vs. 56% in same county subdivision), suggesting that individuals in more deprived communities were less likely to financially benefit from OGD exposure.Discussion and Conclusions: We observed distributive environmental injustice with respect to well waste disposal and benefit-sharing environmental injustice related to oil and rights owner's residential locations across Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale. These results add evidence of a disparity between exposure and benefits resulting from OGD.

Background High ambient air temperatures in Africa pose significant health and behavioral challenges in populations with limited access to cooling adaptations. The built environment can exacerbate heat exposure, making passive home cooling adaptations a potential method for protecting occupants against indoor heat exposure. Methods We are conducting a 2-year community-based stratified cluster randomized controlled trial (cRCT) implementing sunlight-reflecting roof coatings, known as “cool roofs,” as a climate change adaptation intervention for passive indoor home cooling. Our primary research objective is to investigate the effects of cool roofs on health, indoor climate, economic, and behavioral outcomes in rural Burkina Faso. This cRCT is nested in the Nouna Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS), a population-based dynamic cohort study of all people living in a geographically contiguous area covering 59 villages, 14305 households and 28610 individuals. We recruited 1200 participants, one woman and one man, each in 600 households in 25 villages in the Nouna HDSS. We stratified our sample by (i) village and (ii) two prevalent roof types in this area of Burkina Faso: mud brick and tin. We randomized the same number of people (12) and homes (6) in each stratum 1:1 to receiving vs. not receiving the cool roof. We are collecting outcome data on one primary endpoint - heart rate, (a measure of heat stress) and 22 secondary outcomes encompassing indoor climate parameters, blood pressure, body temperature, heat-related outcomes, blood glucose, sleep, cognition, mental health, health facility utilization, economic and productivity outcomes, mosquito count, life satisfaction, gender-based violence, and food consumption. We followed all participants for 2 years, conducting monthly home visits to collect objective and subjective outcomes. Approximately 12% of participants ( n = 152) used smartwatches to continuously measure endpoints including heart rate, sleep and activity. Discussion Our study demonstrates the potential of large-scale cRCTs to evaluate novel climate change adaptation interventions and provide evidence supporting investments in heat resilience in sub-Saharan Africa. By conducting this research, we will contribute to better policies and interventions to help climate-vulnerable populations ward off the detrimental effects of extreme indoor heat on health. Trial registration German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS) DRKS00023207. Registered on April 19, 2021.