How Green are We?

(page 4 of 11)

AIR QUALITY

Since the enactment of 1963’s Clean Air Act, the Rhode Island departments of health, environmental management and transportation have combined efforts to reduce the amount of harmful toxins our cars and factories send into the atmosphere. And the results show: air quality has improved, as carbon monoxide and other pollutants have decreased, thanks in part to low-emission vehicles, congestion alleviation projects and stringent Environmental Protection Agency standards for industry. In 2009, the state will adopt California’s strict car emissions standards for manufacturers, which will reduce emissions by 31 percent by 2016. There’s still work to do, however. The national standards the state uses to create its air quality index do not include airborne toxins like benzene, a compound of gasoline released from cars and a known carcinogen. The state does monitor benzene, though. And while levels of the chemical have declined, it has been measured recently in the state at amounts ten times higher than the EPA’s goal.

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Deadly Numbers

Added cancer risk is the estimated individual risk of getting cancer due to a lifetime exposure to outdoor air pollutants. The national Clean Air Act's goal is to reduce this risk to one in one million people. An added risk of 670, then, is 670 times higher than the Clean Air Act goal. Scorecard.org, a nonprofit, online clearinghouse of pollutionrelated information, estimated ACR using Environmental Protection Agency exposure figures
based on 1996 emissions data.

Added cancer risk per 1 million people National Rank State Added Risk 5 MA 890 9 CT 850 13 RI 670 29 NH 470 42 ME 240