HOUSTON, Sept. 27, 2006 -- A new report recommends immediate action to reduce levels of four toxic air pollutants because exposure to them poses a high risk to community health. Released today by Rice University and funded by Houston Endowment, the study proposes a new set of air quality standards based on the underlying toxicology of the four pollutants investigated.
Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Southern University, University of Houston Law Center and The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston collaborated with Rice on the study, which focused on benzene, 1,3-butadiene, formaldehyde and diesel particulate matter.
"Based on the results of our study, we strongly recommend immediate action to lower the ambient concentrations of the four hazardous air pollutants we researched," said principal investigator Matt Fraser, associate professor in civil and environmental engineering at Rice. "The level of air toxics concentration that we're seeing in the Houston area poses a dangerously high risk of cancer and other health problems."
According to the report, the ultimate goal is the adoption of enforceable ambient air quality standards for which only one more person in a million would be expected to develop cancer from a lifetime of exposure to individual hazardous air pollutants.
The study provides the detailed toxicology and health risk assessment for four compounds and also investigates how a variety of factors leads to a greater impact from exposure to air toxics for some people. The study also compiles how other states and countries regulate air toxics.
One of the report's most alarming statistics indicates that the 2004 annual average concentration of 1,3-butadiene in Houston is 4 parts per billion (ppb) higher than any other city referenced in the report and about 20 times higher than Los Angeles, whose 0.2 ppb was the next highest in the report. 1,3-butadiene is a product of petrochemical man
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Contact: Jade Boyd
jadeboyd@rice.edu
713-348-6778
Rice University
27-Sep-2006