Fine particle pollution from power plants causes 47,541 lost workdays every year, 341 hospitalizations and 8,537 asthma attacks – 426 that are so severe they require emergency room visits.

Lung cancer deaths and heart attacks are attributable to power plant pollution.
A recent scientific study by researchers affiliated with the American Cancer Society found that people living in the most polluted cities have approximately a 12% increased risk of cardiopulmonary death over those living in the cleanest areas of the country. Similarly, for lung cancer, there is approximately a 16% increased risk for those living in the more polluted cities.

America’s children are most at risk.
Children are the most susceptible to the detrimental effects posed by power plant air pollution. Additionally, researchers have found that infants in areas with high levels of particulate matter pollution face a 26% increased risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and a 40% increased risk of respiratory death.

National data shows the adverse health impact of coal-fired power plants.
In 2000, the Clean Air Task Force commissioned Abt Associates to quantify the health impacts of fine particle air pollution from power plants. Key findings include:
  • The average number of life-years lost by individuals dying prematurely from exposure to particulate matter is 14 years.
  • Hundreds of thousands of Americans suffer each year from asthma attacks, cardiac problems and respiratory problems associated with fine particles from power plants. These illnesses result in tens of thousands of emergency room visits, hospitalizations and lost workdays each year.
  • Power plant pollution is responsible for 38,200 non-fatal heart attacks per year.
  • The elderly, children and those with respiratory disease are most severely affected by fine particle pollution from power plants. People who live in metropolitan areas near coal-fired plants feel their impacts most acutely. Their attributable death rates are much higher than areas with few or no coal-fired plants.