The Wilderness Between

I’ve heard so much about Pittsburgh being such a healthy and green city. Even when I tried to google for environmental issues or articles, most of them were praising Pittsburgh for all of the work they’d done reversing the harm done by the steel mills and lack of sewer plant for most of the twentieth century. However, once I started looking for more specific things, like air quality, little problems started to come out of the woodwork.

I was very surprised to hear that Pittsburgh was ranked number two for worst air pollution out of the country. In fact, the only city that performed worse than Pittsburgh on the American Lung Association’s list in 2007 was Los Angeles, which is down right smoggy. The air looked so clear here that I couldn’t believe the air was so unhealthy and downright dangerous.

This wasn’t the first time either for such a ranking. In 2003, the Surface Transportation Policy Project ranked Pittsbugh sixth on its list of the worst air quality, and then bumped it up to number two by 2005. The local news station even did an in-depth report on the subject, which won awards.

To be fair, a good portion of this pollution (40%) is caused by emissions from cars and other forms of transportation. However, apparently, many organizations in the area still burn coal for fuel, including three of the five largest sources of sulfur-dioxide in the country, all local power plants. When sulfur-dioxide mixes with ammonia already in the air, it turns in to a deadly, super fine compound named PM2.5. Though it’s not visible like the smog and smoke used to be over Pittsburgh in its steel mill days. Actually, it’s even more dangerous because of this fact.

The chemical, PM2.5, is so small that it bypasses the hairs in the nose that are supposed to stop such pollution from making its way into the body. It also slides pass the trachea, and nestles its way into the lower lung where it causes lung disease, asthma, and allergies. In fact, over ten percent of Pittsburghers suffer from asthma which is higher than the national average.

Too, these super fine particles can even work their way fro your lungs to your bloodstream where they then affect your heart. The damage that the PM2.5 particles can cause is devastating. It has been linked to much higher rates of lung disease, heart disease, and cancer because of how effective it is at entering the body.

I think this is a terribly disturbing problem for the people of Pittsburgh because there is this false sense of security. The city has already done so much to make itself more sustainable, but it’s still dangerously polluted, even though you can’t tell so without special equipment. To make matters worse, the owners of the power plants are refusing to put special scrubbers and cleaners in their equipment to clean the air before it is released. They say that the cost of installing such devices would cause their customers more harm than good because of the extra money they would have to pay for service. I guess saving money is worth more than our health.