Race a contributing factor for energy costs, report says
Black households in Georgia spend a disproportionate amount of their income on energy bills, forcing them to cut back in ways that could endanger their health, a new report finds.
Released March 14 by the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Sierra Club, the report found Georgia’s high household energy bills coupled with low incomes create a high energy burden, which is defined as the percentage of a household’s income spent on electricity, natural gas and other fuel.
Researchers found Black neighborhoods in the state have the highest energy burden, with every 13% increase in the Black population associated with a 1% increase in energy burden. Factors contributing to higher energy costs in Black neighborhoods include less cooling tree cover than in white neighborhoods and locations close to highways and power plants, which can lead residents to close windows and run more heating and cooling.
Households that spend more than 6% of their monthly budget on energy are considered to be energy burdened. In a hypothetical census tract where 34% of residents were Black, energy costs for a household that earned $15,000 annually would be $900, or a 6% energy burden. But in a tract where 86% of residents were Black, those costs would be $1,500, the researchers said.
People with higher energy burdens often cut back on essentials such as food and medicine. Children who live in energy poverty — when the monthly household energy burden is higher than 10% — are more likely to face food scarcity and have health problems than those with lower burdens.
Nationally, Black households have a 43% higher energy burden than white households, previous research has found.
Residents of HUD-supported housing exposed to less lead
People who live in federally supported housing are less likely to experience blood lead poisoning than their low-income peers, a new study shows.
Researchers with Columbia University and Tufts Medical Center compared heath data on people who received housing assistance through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development with low-income people who did not. The people who lived in HUD-approved housing had 11% lower blood lead levels, found the study, which was published March 13 in Environmental Health Perspectives.
The lower lead levels likely come from stricter enforcement of and compliance with federal lead-paint housing laws in HUD-eligible housing than in homes in the general market, study researchers said. Lead hazard control strategies such as inspections, abatement and risk assessment are commonly used in HUD housing assistance programs.
Not all residents benefited equally, however. The association between HUD housing and lower blood lead levels was not as strong for Black and Mexican American residents as it was for white people, the study found. Researchers said factors such as neighborhood pollution or poorer housing quality could play a role, as could past racist housing policies that influence where people of color live today.
Older housing with lead-based paint and contaminated dust is the most common source of high blood lead levels, particularly among children. While lead-based paint was banned from use in the U.S. in 1978, at least 29 million homes are estimated to contain it.
Lead poisoning is especially dangerous for children, who can experience learning difficulties or developmental delays. Lead exposure during pregnancy can raise risks for premature birth and low birth weight.
About 5 million families, including 3 million children, live in HUD-supported housing.
Incarcerated youth, others exposed to contaminated water
Nearly a million incarcerated people are exposed to chemicals in their drinking water, researchers estimate.
About 5% of U.S. carceral facilities — which include jails, prisons and detention centers — are located near an airport, military installation or other site known to contaminate watersheds with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS, according to a new study.
Of the more than 6,000 carceral facilities, almost half are near a site that is presumed — but not proven to — release PFAS contamination, finds the new study published March 13 in the American Journal of Public Health. At least 990,000 people are housed in the facilities, including 12,800 youth.
Many of the nation’s carceral facilities are built in industrial areas, exposing residents to a range of environmental risks, including water contamination. Based on their locations, more than half of facilities that house juveniles were presumed by researchers to have PFAS-contaminated water.
Presumed and proven sources of PFAS contamination include wastewater treatment plants, fire training sites and landfills.
Nationwide, about 200 million U.S. residents are estimated to receive drinking water from a source contaminated with PFAS. The chemicals are linked to reproductive health problems, cancers and hormone disruption, among other harms.
In March 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed new contamination limits for six types of PFAS found in drinking water. A final rule is expected to be issued after interagency review is complete.
Children healthier when coal emissions decrease
Cutting emissions from coal-burning fuel pays off substantially for children’s health, new research finds.
From 2010-2019, both fine-particle pollution and inhalable particulate matter — also known as PM2.5 and PM10 — declined about 40% annually in Krakow, Poland, according to a March 13 study in Environmental Research Letters. The decrease came after policies to reduce coal as a main fuel source in the city of more than 780,000 people were enacted.
Over the past 12 years, governmental measures — including financing to help people replace coal-burning stoves, inspections of waste incineration plants and emissions requirements for solid fuel boilers — have helped lower air pollution levels in Krakow, study researchers said.
That decrease led to fewer preterm births, more babies born at healthy birth weights and fewer asthma-related deaths and hospitalizations among children. If the city were able to lower its emissions even further, bringing it in line with guidelines from the World Health Organization, hundreds more children would benefit annually, the study said.
Because of its heavy reliance on coal for heating and cooking, as well as emissions from transportation, Krakow has some of the highest levels of air pollution of all cities around the world, especially in winter months. It also has high related death rates.
Other recent public health news of interest includes:
• New vehicle emission standards were announced this week by the EPA, despite major lobbying by deep-pocketed foes. A recent report from Public Citizen found five major car carmakers spent more than more than $183 million trying to scuttle the new safeguards. The new tailpipe emission standards are predicted to prevent more than 7 billion tons of carbon pollution in the next 30 years and speed up the nation’s transition to electric cars.
• Two dozen combinations of air pollutants are associated with asthma symptoms among children, with kids from lower-income neighborhoods exposed to more toxic combinations, reports a study in Science of the Total Environment.
• A new EPA final rule is predicted to reduce toxic emissions of ethylene oxide by 90% and reduce cancer risks for people living near commercial sterilization facilities.
• Electronic waste around the world is piling up at a dizzying pace, with 62 million tons generated in 2022, a new U.N. report finds. Only about 22% of the waste was properly collected and recycled.
The Watch is written by Michele Late, who has more than two decades of experience as a public-health journalist.
