A Harvard researcher reported a direct relationship between particle concentrations in the air and increased daily death rates. The relationship was strongest for deaths from heart and lung diseases.

Louis Lowery makes a living gardening. When a noxious smell and smoke filled the neighborhood from a nearby resident burning trash his eyes and throat began to burn and his head ached. Lowery had had enough. Yet, when he complained to the fire department, he learned the neighbor had a permit to burn his trash. When the fire department spokesman indicated he was more concerned with fire safety than air pollution Lowery decided to do some research.
He was stunned to learn that open fire smoke contains 70 parts per million of the carcinogenic benzopyrene, about 350 times more than cigarette smoke. He read that garbage burned in a barrel emits 40 times more particles of dioxin and furan than a high temperature incinerator and that exposure to certain dioxins has been shown to cause adverse effects in laboratory animals, such as immune dysfunction, cancer, hormonal changes and developmental abnormalities. One study revealed that the free radicals in wood smoke can trigger asthma attacks, headaches, fatigue and puts one at greater risk for cancer than tobacco smoke. The smoke’s ability to numb the senses is put to use by bee keepers.
When Lowery saw the smoke of a tree-burning machine billowing in a housing project and play ground he decided to start a campaign to convince the Macon City Council members that giving out burning permits in residential areas is a health hazard.
A number of mothers told Lowery that the trench burner, that can burn 20 tons of trees and wood waste in one hour, had been in operation for two weeks. Many of the residents were experiencing upper and lower respiratory problems, headaches, and asthma. Lillie Dantley, a mother of five small children, said that her daughter’s asthma attacks had increased. When Lowery and Dantley expressed their concerns on a local TV station the trench burner was finally stopped and the residents respiratory problems ended. Dantley, who was in her 50s, died two weeks later. Her neighbors, family and friends said she was in good health before the tree burning started.
In addition to the smoke from trench burners and trash fires the haze that blurs Macon skies on hot, summer days may also be deadly. The fog like cover is caused by exceedingly tiny particles of soot, dust, aerosols, metals, sulfates and other materials that spew from car exhausts. Macon and Atlanta have been in violation of federal smog standards for years.
Mounting evidence shows that the microscopic specks—especially the tiniest ones, 30X smaller than a human hair—may be sickening thousands of Maconites and hospitalizing many of them each year. The Environmental Agency and numerous medical researchers say the pollutants are as least as dangerous as ground-level ozone, which has gotten most of the attention from environmental regulators.
A Harvard researcher reported a direct relationship between particle concentrations in the air and increased daily death rates. The relationship was strongest for deaths from heart and lung diseases.
Scientists have known of the association between tiny particles in the air and respiratory illnesses and death since the infamous “killer fogs” earlier this century. On December 5, 1952, a “severe temperature inversion”—a weather pattern that trapped pollutants close to the ground—occurred over London, leading to a substantial accumulation of tiny particles of soot and other materials in the air from burning coal and oil. The phenomenon was associated with an abrupt increase in the London death rate, with about 4,000 excess deaths, mostly from heart and lung disease.
A recent study shows that smog may cause, not just trigger, asthma—the most common chronic disease of children. The researchers found that those children who played the most active sports in the most polluted areas developed the most asthma.
Macon’s nearby pulp and paper mill also contributes to the pollution depending on the winds as does Middle Georgia’s Plant Scherer in Monroe County. The local power plant made the Top 100 list in the country for emissions of nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, mercury and other pollutants. The westerly winds that sweep across Georgia also carry pollutants from Alabama’s power plants.
The American lung Association estimates that nearly 34 million people in the Southeast live in areas with unhealthy air.
The level of man-made carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen 30% since the 19thC. Scientists say carbon dioxide stays in the air, on average, between 100 and 200 years. Americans represent 4% of the world’s population, but they produce more than 20 % of the carbon dioxide and other gases said to be causing global warming.
The five hottest years on record occurred in 1990. The ten warmest years have all occurred during the 1980s and 1990s. Glaciers almost everywhere are in retreat and the oceans—which expand when warmed—have risen by 4 to 10 inches.
Efforts to reduce emissions are met with opposition from American business. They warn that if the environmental regulations are tightened, heavy industry such as aluminum, steel and oil refineries will move to third world countries.
What can we do? We can ask our city legislators to ban trench burners and the burning or trash in residential areas. To reduce carbon dioxide emissions we could turn down our air conditioners or, better still, turn them off and open our windows. We could drive more fuel-efficient cars.
We also need to get political. To stop letting public health standards be set by corporate profit margins. We can write to our congressman and join Lowery and one of the many organizations such as Georgia’s Airkeepers or the Southeastern Powerplant Cleanup Campaign to clean up Georgia’s air.
Louis Lowery can be reached at http:gardenersview.html
Niki Collins-Queen is the author of “Earth, the Forgotten Temple: A Spirit Quest in the Wilderness.” She can be reached at www.dreamwater.com/biz/earth/