Researchers examine how US agriculture influences mortality due to poor air quality. Food production increases levels of fine particulate matter in the atmosphere, thereby harming air quality. However, the extent to which specific foods affect human health via poor air quality is unclear. Using modeling and datasets from over the past decade, including cropland data from the US Department of Agriculture, emissions data from the US Environmental Protection Agency, and annual death rates from the American Cancer Society, Jason Hill and colleagues calculated air quality-related US deaths attributable to US agricultural practices. Decreased air quality from food production was tied to 15,900 annual deaths, and 80% of those deaths were associated with a combination of livestock production and animal feed production. Ammonia emissions, mostly from fertilizer application and livestock waste from red meat production, were the primary contributors to air quality-related mortality. The counties collectively responsible for almost half of the total deaths attributable to poor air quality from agriculture were mainly located in California, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and the Upper Midwest Corn Belt. The findings suggest that consuming more plant-based foods, improving livestock manure management, and using fertilizer additives to inhibit ammonia emissions may reduce mortality from poor air quality, according to the authors.
Article #20-13637: "Air quality-related health damages of food," by Nina G. G. Domingo et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Jason Hill, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN; tel: 612-624-2692, 651-248-4150; email: hill0408@umn.edu ,
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences