Holland Energy 2050
Health Statistics
- Approximately 11 million U.S. children reside within one mile of a National Priorities List (NPL) Superfund site where they are uniquely vulnerable to the toxins that surround them.
- Studies suggest exposures to benzene, arsenic and PCBs, and trichloroethylene (TCE) found in Superfund landfills are likely suspects for the increase of childhood malignancies.
- Air pollution from coal-fired power plants has been linked to asthma, which affects 5 million U.S. children and has doubled since the 1980s. Approximately 150,000 children are hospitalized and 600 children die annually from asthma. It is the primary cause of school absenteeism.
- In 2003, government researchers determined 630,000 U.S. newborns had unsafe levels of mercury in their blood, almost twice the previous estimate of 320,000. This analysis suggests 16 percent or one-in-six children born every year could be exposed to mercury levels high enough to put them at risk for a host of learning disorders and motor skill impairment.
- In addition to the toxic exposures leaching from Superfund sites, each year 450 coal-fire power plants release approximately 100 million tons of coal ash and 48 tons of mercury into the atmosphere, multiplying the toxic exposure inflicted on unsuspecting residents.
- Arsenic, lead and mercury are the most frequently detected toxins in landfills and, along with other chemicals like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) chromium, and cadmium, provide persistent exposures to anyone living nearby. Some of these chemicals have been found to cause everything from birth defects to cancer.
