Study: Air pollution kills up to 200,000 more Americans of color than anticipated
28 April 2021
Americans of color are disproportionally and pervasively affected by fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5), the nation's most deadly pollutant, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances.
Why it matters: PM2.5 exposure in the U.S. causes roughly 85,000 to 200,000 more deaths than anticipated, the study notes.
- President Biden has made addressing the disproportionate pollution burdens that poor communities and people of color face a priority for his administration.
Be smart: Particulate matter denotes a "mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air," and can include dust, soot or smoke, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The big picture: The study found that Black, Latino, Asian and Native Americans face higher PM2.5 exposure than white Americans, regardless of income level.
- Much of this exposure is due to their proximity to industry and construction sites, gasoline vehicles and diesel vehicles.
- "This phenomenon is systemic, holding for nearly all major sectors, as well as across states and urban and rural areas, income levels, and exposure levels." the study states.
What they're saying: “The deck is stacked against people of color, for almost every emission source,” Joshua Apte, one of the study's authors, told the Washington Post in an interview.
- “The recipe we’ve had for improving air quality for the last 50 years, which has worked well for the country overall, is not a good recipe for solving environmental inequality.”
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.