Clean Air News

As the new home of NJPIRG's environmental work, Environment New Jersey can be contacted regarding this news release. 

TRENTON—The air in New Jersey contains hazardous air pollutants that increase the risk of getting cancer, a new analysis of federal air pollution data shows. An assessment of toxic chemicals in New Jersey's air conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and analyzed by the New Jersey Public Interest Research Group reveals that residents in every part of the state are exposed to eight carcinogenic chemicals in levels that exceed public health goals established by the Clean Air Act, posing lifetime cancer risks greater than one in one million.

"New Jersey's air has higher levels of cancer-causing chemicals than any state in the country, except New York, " stated Travis Madsen, NJPIRG Clean Air Associate and author of the study, Invisible Threats, How Air Toxics May Affect Public Health in New Jersey. "No federal air quality standards exist to limit these hazardous chemicals in the air we breathe. So here in New Jersey, we need to do everything we can to reduce these threats."

NJPIRG's analysis used federal estimates of concentrations of 33 toxic chemicals in outdoor air from the 1996 National Air Toxics Assessment. Health benchmarks were used to estimate the lifetime cancer risk from exposure to outdoor air, allowing researchers to compare the relative risk posed by air toxics in different parts of the state and the nation. This analysis shows that Hudson, Bergen, and Camden Counties have the highest average cancer risks, ranging from 1800 to 3600 in one million. These counties rank among the top ten worst counties in the country, with Hudson County second only to New York City. Essex, Monmouth, Union and Mercer also ranked in the top 25 nationwide.

"We urgently need to reduce toxic air pollution to protect our health. We know the health effects of many of the carcinogens in this study, chemicals like benzene, 1,3-butadiene, formaldehyde, particulates. These chemicals are also found in cigarette smoke," said Michael Calvin of the American Lung Association of New Jersey. "The effects of these harmful chemicals add up over a lifetime."

Nancy Pinkin, Advocate for the American Academy of Pediatrics - New Jersey Chapter, added that the effects of such pollution can be more immediate as well. "There is a continuing epidemic of asthma rates in children, particularly in urban areas such as Paterson. Air toxics, especially diesel particulates, exacerbate the impact of such diseases."

The report found that most of the cancer risk stems from eight major pollutants. Five of these pollutants are mainly produced by the combustion of gasoline and diesel fuel in the engines of cars, trucks, buses, and offroad vehicles: diesel particulates, benzene, 1,3-butadiene, formaldehyde, and acetaldehyde. Two pollutants, chromium compounds and polycyclic organic matter, mainly come from industrial sources, and the remainder of the cancer risk comes from carbon tetrachloride left over from emissions during the last century.

"We should act on this study with great care," stated Dr. Lenahan, an officer of the New Jersey Public Health Association and a practicing physician in Elizabeth. "Public health studies such as this one are so important to our overall health, guiding us to policies that will help us breathe easier every day and prevent unnecessary illness and deaths."

Noting that mobile sources, including cars, trucks, and off-road equipment, account for over 85% of the threat to public health identified in the study, the report recommended that the state take immediate steps to reduce mobile source emissions.

"The first thing we need to do is adopt the most stringent emission standards available for new cars and trucks sold in the state," Mr. Madsen said. "New York has taken action to protect the public from hazardous air pollution by requiring cars and trucks sold in New York to be cleaner. Why should we settle for a weaker standard?" NJPIRG and a coalition of environmental and public health groups launched a campaign to convince the state to adopt a Low Emission Vehicles program last fall.

This program has been adopted by the states seeking to reduce levels of hazardous air pollution, including New York, California and Massachusetts. This program requires automakers to sell cleaner vehicles and begin introducing extremely low or zero emission cars, light trucks, and SUVs in 2003 or 2004. In adopting the program, New York regulators estimated that it would result in a 46% reduction of air toxic emissions compared to federal standards when fully implemented, with even larger gains in the years beyond as advanced technology vehicles comprise a greater proportion of the fleet.

Others present noted that requiring cleaner cars is not the only program that can help reduce mobile source emissions. "New Jersey also needs to reduce the miles vehicles travel on our roads by providing more incentives for mass transit, more investment in our transit infrastructure, and better land use planning. Reducing vehicle miles traveled is the best way to have a quick impact on the levels of hazardous air pollution." reported Jennifer Jaroski of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign.

The report also recommended that the state require all diesel trucks and equipment to be retrofitted with particle trapping filters and other pollution controls, to address residual risk before EPAs new on-highway engine standards and diesel fuel standards come into effect in 2007. In addition, one industrial facility, F.W. Winter in Camden, was cited as posing a particularly large threat to the surrounding community, and advocates urged the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to investigate the high levels of chromium emitted from the facility.