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Air pollution from oil and gas is causing 91,000 premature deaths and hundreds of thousands of health issues across the United States annually, with Black, Asian, Native American and Hispanic groups consistently the most affected, finds a major new study led by researchers at UCL and the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI).

The research, in Science Advances, is the first to comprehensively quantify the health impacts of outdoor air pollution across all stages of the US oil and gas lifecycle, from extraction to end-use (cars, power plants), as well as to analyze the associated racial and ethnic disparities in exposure and health burden.

In addition, the researchers found that 10,350 pre-term births and 216,000 new cases of childhood asthma per year were attributable to oil and gas air pollution, as well as 1,610 lifetime cancers across the US.

For the study, the research team used advanced computer models to map air pollution from oil and gas activities across the US. They then used this information, along with established health risk data, to estimate the number of severe health outcomes like asthma, preterm birth, and early death.

Lead author, Dr. Karn Vohra (UCL Geography, now at University of Birmingham) said, "We used a state-of-the-science air quality model to separate air pollution caused by each major stage of the oil and gas lifecycle from other sources of air pollution. This enabled us to work out and compare health outcomes.

"What we found was striking: one in five preterm births and adult deaths linked to fine particulate pollution are from oil and gas. Even more concerning is that nearly 90% of new childhood asthma cases tied to nitrogen dioxide pollution were from this sector."

The US has one of the world's largest oil and gas industries but the health impacts and inequities from its air pollution have been poorly characterized. The research quantifies the health impacts of air pollution across all oil and gas lifecycle stages, from exploration, extraction and drilling (upstream), through to compression, transport and storage (midstream), refinement or transformation into petrochemical products (downstream) and consumer end-use.

The researchers found that the final end-use stage, mostly from burning fossil fuels, overwhelmingly contributes the greatest detrimental health burden, accounting for 96% of total incidents linked to the oil and gas sector.

The five states that experience the greatest total health burden from all stages are among the most populated (California, Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey). When normalized for population, residents in New Jersey, the District of Columbia, New York, California, and Maryland are subject to the greatest health impacts.

Unmasking a hidden health toll

Across the US, marginalized ethnic and racial groups face the greatest exposure to air pollution and health impacts across all stages. Native American and Hispanic populations are most affected by upstream and midstream stages, while Black and Asian populations are most affected by downstream and end-use stages.

On a national scale, downstream activities cause far less pollution than upstream and end-use activities, but this stage is the cause of the greatest relative adverse health outcomes for the Black population, particularly in Southern Louisiana (the region known as "Cancer Alley") and eastern Texas.

The health outcomes for the Black population that are more severe than national incidences include premature mortality, preterm births, and the development of asthma among children.

Much of the disparity in exposures and health outcomes stems from a legacy of zoning practices, such as "redlining," that relegated certain populations to living near pollution hotspots such as industrial areas or high-traffic roadways. Permitting of large factories that produce products from oil and gas is another contributing factor.

Senior author, Professor Eloise Marais (UCL Geography), said, "It is well known that air pollution from oil and gas activities causes certain communities to experience worse health outcomes. These communities are already aware of this unjust exposure and the disproportionately large health burdens they experience. Our study puts science-backed numbers on just how large these unfair exposures and health outcomes are."

The researchers were also able to track air pollution across borders, attributing 1,170 early deaths in southern Canada and 440 early deaths in northern Mexico to oil and gas air pollution from the US.

Co-author Dr. Ploy Achakulwisut (SEI) said, "Our study provides yet another compelling case for why we need to accelerate the phase-out of oil and gas production and combustion with hard numbers: hundreds of thousands of children, adults, and the elderly in the US could be saved from illnesses and early deaths every year.

"We therefore have an imperative to not only urgently transition away from fossil fuels to achieve net-zero emissions to save lives in the long term from climate devastation, but also to save lives and minimize environmental injustices in the near term from air pollution exposure."

The researchers developed a comprehensive inventory of oil and gas air pollution sources, then ran it through a computer model that calculates the complex air chemistry that forms harmful pollutants across the US.

They then used these air pollutant concentrations with epidemiological evidence of the relationship between exposure and health risk along with census and health data to determine multiple adverse health outcomes and racial-ethnic disparities.

The researchers compiled data for the year 2017, the most recent year of complete data available. They added that their estimates are most likely conservative as US oil and gas production has increased by 40% and consumption by 8% between 2017 and 2023, and their work only focused on outdoor air pollution.

This analysis was carried out by researchers from UCL, the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), George Washington University and University of Colorado Boulder.