http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/school-days-and-roadways--protecting-north-carolina39s-school-children-from-automobile-pollution  Automobile exhaust accounts for over 30% of air pollution in North Carolina, and is a major health threat, especially for children. Children spend much of their time at schools that typically are located near major roadways. Environmental Defense contracted with Resource Data Inc. of Asheville, N.C., to find out exactly how many schools in North Carolina are near major roadways. Key findings:· Cars emit pollutants that are hazardous to human health, such as nitrogen oxides, carbonmonoxide and particulate matter.· Children are more vulnerable to air pollution than adults.· Air pollution is worse closer to roads.· About 50% of North Carolina's public schools are within one-quarter mile of a majorroadway (U.S. highway, N.C. highway or interstate) and most schools are in the countieswith the highest road density.· Studies show a correlation between school proximity to freeways and asthma occurrence.North Carolina can take a step toward healthier air by joining 11 other states in adopting the Clean Cars Program, which will reduce the emissions from all types of cars and trucks beyond the federal standards.    http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/school-days-and-roadways--protecting-north-carolina39s-school-children-from-automobile-pollution Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:14:31 -0600 http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/clean-cars-cleaner-air--a-primer-on-the-clean-cars-program-and-its-benefits    http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/clean-cars-cleaner-air--a-primer-on-the-clean-cars-program-and-its-benefits Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:14:31 -0600 http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/air-pollution-and-public-health-in-north-carolina2 Air pollution in North Carolina makes people sick and cuts lives short. Air pollution triggers heart attacks and strokes. It causes diseases like chronic bronchitis, asthma and lung cancer. It sends people to the emergency room with respiratory problems, causes asthma attacks, and contributes to respiratory illness in otherwise healthy people. At the root of all of these problems, air pollution irreparably damages lung tissues in ways similar to second- hand tobacco smoke.In this report, we estimate the health impact of air pollution above natural background levels in North Carolina. The estimates cover particulate pollution (or soot), which comes from smokestacks and vehicle exhaust, and ground-level ozone (or smog), which develops across much of the state on hot summer days as a result of emissions from cars, trucks, smokestacks and other sources. The estimates rely on a number of information sources: 2003 air pollution monitoring data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); statistics about the frequency of health problems from the North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics and the U.S. EPA; scientific studies linking air pollution and health problems; and methodology based on similar work from the U.S. EPA and the World Health Organization. Taken together, these sources reveal that air pollution places a significant burden on the health of all North Carolinians.Many North Carolina residents suffer health problems caused by pollution even at levels that meet air pollution standards. • Despite the fact that air pollution levels in North Carolina meet health standards during much of the year, even “safe” levels of pollution can cause damage. Scientific experiments show no threshold below which pollution does not have an effect. Air pollution causes illness in otherwise healthy people.• Air pollution causes in the range of a half-million missed work days each year, and millions of cases where North Carolinians experience symptoms like shortness of breath or runny nose.Air pollution causes thousands of people to be admitted to area hospitals every year and increases the burden of chronic disease.• Air pollution leads to an estimated 6,000 hospital admissions for respiratory disease and 2,000 for cardiovascular disease annually.• In addition, air pollution causes approximately 1,500 new cases of asthma and 2,500 new cases of chronic bronchitis in adults every year.• Among asthmatics, soot pollution causes an estimated 200,000 asthma attacks annually, with an additional 200,000 caused by smog. Every year, air pollution kills thousands of people in North Carolina.• Air pollution causes about 3,000 premature deaths in North Carolina annually, accounting for between 3 and 7 percent of all deaths not caused by violence or accidents.• Compared to national statistics, air pollution ranks as the third highest risk factor for premature death, behind smoking and poor diet/physical inactivity.• Tables ES-1 and ES-2 provide a summary of the health impacts of air pollution in North Carolina, including central estimates as well as upper and lower boundaries of statistical precision. Children are especially vulnerable to the effects of air pollution.• Every year, air pollution causes dozens of infant deaths and hundreds of thousands of school absences due to illness. (See Table ES-3.)• Injuries caused by air pollution in early in life can have permanent consequences.Aggressive action to reduce air pollution can improve public health and reduce the societal cost of pollutioncaused illness.In 1999, the two largest sources of North Carolina’s air pollution were coal-fired power plants and automobiles. In 2002, the state Legislature passed the Clean Smokestacks law, which will reduce power plant pollution in-state by more than 70 percent over the next seven years. Reducing pollution from vehicles is the next priority step toward healthy air at the state level. Because emissions from vehicles and industrial facilities located upwind from North Carolina also contribute to the overall problem, action at the regional and federal level will also be required.State Level Actions: • Strengthen limits on automobile air pollution in line with New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, Vermont, California, Oregon and Washington.• Require retrofitting of diesel engines with particulate filtration systems, including school bus fleets and construction equipment. • Reduce car-dependent land use practices and sprawl.• Increase transportation funding for transit, rail freight, and other alternative transportation projects.Federal and Regional Level Actions: • Fully enforce the Clean Smokestacks Act, pursuing all available means to reduce pollution in neighboring states.• Restore the New Source Review provision of the federal Clean Air Act and require the oldest coal-fired power plants and other industrial facilities in the country to install modern emissions control technology.• Limit nationwide industrial emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and mercury to between 10 percent and 30 percent of 2000 levels.• Strengthen national emission standards for cars and trucks to match or exceed standards adopted by California and other states. http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/air-pollution-and-public-health-in-north-carolina2 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:14:31 -0600 http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/power-to-protect-the-critical-role-states-play-in-cleaning-up-pollution-from-mobile-sources  As the new home of NCPIRG's environmental work, http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/power-to-protect-the-critical-role-states-play-in-cleaning-up-pollution-from-mobile-sources Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:14:31 -0600 http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/made-in-the-u_s_a_-power-plants-and-mercury-pollution-across-the-country As the new home of NCPIRG's environmental work, http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/made-in-the-u_s_a_-power-plants-and-mercury-pollution-across-the-country Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:14:31 -0600 http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/the-fine-print-how-a-loophole-in-the-clear-skies-bill-lets-power-plants-off-the-hook-for-their-mercury-emissions  As the new home of NCPIRG's environmental work, http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/the-fine-print-how-a-loophole-in-the-clear-skies-bill-lets-power-plants-off-the-hook-for-their-mercury-emissions Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:14:31 -0600 http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/pollution-on-the-rise-local-trends-in-power-plant-pollution As the new home of NCPIRG's environmental work, http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/pollution-on-the-rise-local-trends-in-power-plant-pollution Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:14:31 -0600 http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/more-highways-more-pollution-road-building-and-air-pollution-in-americas-cities http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/more-highways-more-pollution-road-building-and-air-pollution-in-americas-cities Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:14:31 -0600 http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/ready-to-roll-the-benefits-of-todays-advanced-technology-vehicles-for-north-carolina http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/ready-to-roll-the-benefits-of-todays-advanced-technology-vehicles-for-north-carolina Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:14:31 -0600 http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/fishing-for-trouble-how-toxic-mercury-contaminates-our-waterways-and-threatens-recreational-fishing http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/fishing-for-trouble-how-toxic-mercury-contaminates-our-waterways-and-threatens-recreational-fishing Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:14:31 -0600 http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/danger-in-the-air-the-2001-ozone-season-summary http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/danger-in-the-air-the-2001-ozone-season-summary Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:14:31 -0600 http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/north-carolina39s-health-is-worth-it-how-the-health-benefits-of-reducing-north-carolinas-air-pollution-outweigh-the-costs http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/north-carolina39s-health-is-worth-it-how-the-health-benefits-of-reducing-north-carolinas-air-pollution-outweigh-the-costs Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:14:31 -0600 http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/children-at-risk-how-air-pollution-from-power-plants-threatens-the-health-of-americas-children http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/children-at-risk-how-air-pollution-from-power-plants-threatens-the-health-of-americas-children Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:14:31 -0600 http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/darkening-skies-trends-toward-increasing-power-plant-emissions http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/darkening-skies-trends-toward-increasing-power-plant-emissions Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:14:31 -0600 http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/clean-cars-cleaner-air-how-strict-low-emission-and-zero-mission-vehicle-standards-can-cut-airborne-toxic-pollution-in-north-carolina As the new home of NCPIRG's environmental work, http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/clean-cars-cleaner-air-how-strict-low-emission-and-zero-mission-vehicle-standards-can-cut-airborne-toxic-pollution-in-north-carolina Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:14:31 -0600 http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/brain-food-what-women-should-know-about-mercury-contamination-in-fish As the new home of NCPIRG's environmental work, http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/brain-food-what-women-should-know-about-mercury-contamination-in-fish Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:14:31 -0600 http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/danger-in-the-air-unhealthy-smog-days-in-2000 http://www.environmentnorthcarolina.org/reports/clean-air/clean-air-program-reports/danger-in-the-air-unhealthy-smog-days-in-2000 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:14:31 -0600