Exercising in Pittsburgh's Air Pollution? You May Want to Think Twice

In my last post, I wrote about local environmental group GASP's program "Athletes United for Healthy Air," a group who believes that everyone has the right to exercise in clean air. In researching this topic, I was shocked to read that the risks of exercising outdoors in polluted air might actually outweigh the benefits. 

Particulate matter and ozone, two areas where Pittsburgh leads the country in unhealthy levels, are particularly bad for those who exercise outdoors. 

Source: imaginepittsburgh.com

People involved in aerobic exercise such as running, cycling, swimming, and walking inhale more air and breathe more deeply. They also tend to breathe through the mouth more, so pollutants that are usually filtered through the nose are able to sneak in. In fact, a 2004 study found that during exercise, "low concentrations of pollutants caused lung damage similar to that caused by high concentrations in people not working out."

Exercising in bad air is associated with the following risks:

• Damage to airways of lungs
• Worsening/development of asthma
• Increased risk of heart attacks and stroke
• Increased risk of death from lung cancer and cardiovascular disease

This short video explains how toxins from air pollution move around in our bodies:

Mitigating the Effects of Air Pollution

As scary as it is, especially if you are someone who likes to exercise outdoors, there are steps you can take to lessen your exposure to dangerous air pollutants:

• Know your air pollution. Check the local air quality index on a daily basis and follow instructions.
• Know your risk! If you have asthma or other special conditions, pay attention to recommendations.
• Limit outdoor exercise at time of the day when it might be particularly bad outside, like at rush hour and midday. 
• Try to exercise at least 50 feet away from roadways, where vehicle exhaust is at its worst.

Coal Remains Pittsburgh's Top Pollutant

In my previous post, I noted that Pittsburgh has the 6th worst air pollution in the US and scores a failing grade for ozone. Whenever I mention Pittsburgh's poor air quality to anyone, the first question they ask is "Why?" I was surprised to find that as in the past, our current top polluter is coal. Specifically, coal-fired power plants, which we will discuss at length below. 

Types of Air Pollution

According to the Breathe Project, there are three main categories for air pollution in our region: 

• Ground-level ozone
• Particle pollution
• Air toxics

Ozone: Ozone, or smog, is a gas formed when oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic compounds react chemically with heat and sunlight. The precursors to ozone are emitted by sources such as power plants, coke and steel making plants, refineries, chemical plants, motor vehicles, and others. This "bad" ozone should not be confused with the "good" ozone in the stratosphere.

Source: EPA

Particulate matter: Particulate pollution is a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air. Some particles such as dust, dirt, soot, and smoke can be seen with the naked eye. Smaller particles can only be detected with an electron microscope. Sources of particulate matter include construction sites, unpaved roads, smokestacks, fires, power plants, and motor vehicles. The figure below illustrates the size of particulate matter.

Air toxics: These are hazardous air pollutants that can cause cancer, reproductive effects, and birth defects, among other health issues. Examples include benzene (found in gasoline), perchloroethylene (used in some dry cleaning), and heavy metals (emitted by coal-fired power plants).

Our Region's Coal Problem

The Sierra Club reports that the state's 31 coal-fired power plants are the single largest source of pollution in a 10-county region of southwestern Pennsylvania. Specifically, 64% of the particulate matter in this region results from electrical generation. No other single source contributes more than 10% of the total. 

Coal-fired units produce electricity by burning coal in a boiler to heat water to produce steam. At tremendous pressure, the steam flows into a turbine, which spins a generator to produce electricity. 

Source: Tennessee Valley Authority

Coal-burning power plants release millions of pounds of toxic pollutants into the air every year. Notably, they emit 84 of the 187 hazardous air pollutants identified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as posing a threat to human health and the environment including:

• Dioxins
• Metals such as mercury, arsenic, chromium, lead, nickel, and cadmium
• Formaldyhyde
• Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
• Volatile organic compounds including benzene, tolulene, and xylene
• Acid gases such as hydrogen chloride, and hydrogen fluoride
• Small amounts of radioactive materials such as radium, thorium, and uranium
• Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, which react with precipitation to form acid rain

Southwestern Pennsylvania's Biggest Polluters

The Pittsburgh Business Times lists the following plants as the top 10 air polluters in our region:

• US Steel Clairton Works, Clairton
• NRG Energy, Cheswick
• US Steel Edgar Thomson Works, Braddock
• US Steel Irvin Works, West Mifflin
• Shenango, Inc,, Neville Island
• Guardian Industries, Jefferson Hills
• Allegheny Ludlum, Brackenridge
• Allegheny Energy Supply, Springdale
• Bay Valley Foods, Pittsburgh
• Allied Waste Systems, Imperial

The Breathe Project features an online map of polluters on its website. Beneath is a screenshot of the map, featuring US Steel's Edgar Thomson plant, which is just a few miles from my house. Click here to see which plants are near you or to get more information about the industries and pollutants.

Geography

Even if you don't live close to a plant, your air quality is still affected. While people living near large sources of pollution are at particular risk, the problem is not confined to these areas. Nine out of 10 of the air quality monitors in Allegheny County rank in the worst third in the nation for particle pollution. Six out of 10 fall among the worst 10% in the country. According to Harvard environmental epidemiology professor Joel Schwartz, southwestern Pennsylvania is in an "unfortunate position" because it produces considerable industrial pollution, is downwind from industrial and utility plants in Ohio that produce pollutants, and has hills and valleys that trap bad air. 

The Good News/Looking Ahead

There is some good news for Pittsburgh residents. While our air quality is bad, the amount of fine particulate matter in our air is improving and is the lowest it has been since 2000. This is due in part to some plants switching from coal to natural gas. More clean burning diesel engines help too. The government is also fighting to impose stricter regulations on these plants, which is being met with opposition. These regulations and the fight against them will be the next topic in the Pittsburgh Smog Blog. 

Introduction

My name is Heather Rockwell and I'm a mom, an animal lover, a grad student, and a third generation Pittsburgher.  I've heard the stories of Pittsburgh's smoky past throughout my life, but growing up in the suburbs in the 1970s and 80s the only smoke I saw was trailing from the tips of my parents' menthol Salem cigarettes. While I am aware that every city has its environmental challenges, I have long assumed that Pittsburgh's significant environmental problems are mostly a thing of the past. They're not.

Photo courtesy of the University of Pittsburgh

Downtown Pittsburgh circa 1940, corner of Liberty and Fifth Avenues 8:38 AM, when coal smoke blocked the morning sun. 

Pittsburgh is certainly making great strides in leaving behind our reputation as "hell with the lid taken off," but we still have a long way to go. Here are some recent facts & figures:

• Top 10 Most Polluted: According to the American Lung Association's "State of the Air 2014" report, the Pittsburgh-New Castle area ranks 6th in the country for particle pollution.

• F Grade: In the same report, Allegheny County received a failing grade for ozone in the air. 

• Drinking Water: In a ranking by the Environmental Working Group that looked at EPA data for large American cities, Pittsburgh ranks 32nd and 73rd (depending on the water utility) out of 100 for water quality. Studies found unhealthy (and sometimes illegal) levels of certain chemicals in local drinking water.

The Pittsburgh Smog Blog is not just about smog. While air quality is certainly a significant problem for our region, I will also discuss other local environmental trends, identify industries and practices that contribute to our problems, discuss health implications, and examine what the research says. Anything and anyone related to our local environment is up for discussion and suggestions are welcome!