EV adoption rates have been linked to reduced air pollution and improved respiratory health according to a new, first-of-its-kind study from the Keck School of Medicine of USC. The study results were recently published in the journal Science of the Total Environment.
The study was based on publicly available datasets of a “natural experiment” occurring in California, where residents are quickly transitioning to electric cars and zero-emission light-duty vehicles. Researchers leveraged four different datasets total, starting with zero-emission vehicle adoption rates from the California DMV, which includes battery electric, plug-in hybrid, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Researchers also looked at pollution data from the EPA, including nitrogen dioxide levels, and zip-code-level asthma-related emergency room visits.
Researchers then compared data on EV and zero-emission vehicle registration with air pollution levels and asthma-related emergency room visits across California between the 2013 and 2019 calendar years, finding that an increase in EV and zero-emission vehicle adoption within a given zip code was tied to a reduction in local air pollution levels and a reduction in emergency room visits. At the zip code level, every 20 EV and zero-emission vehicles adopted per 1,000 people was correlated to a 3.2-percent drop in asthma-related emergency visits and a “small suggestive reduction” in nitrogen dioxide levels.
On average, ZEV adoption increased from 1.4 to 14.6 per 1,000 people between 2013 and 2019.
“When we think about the actions related to climate change, often it’s on a global level,” said the study’s lead author, Erika Garcia, PhD, MPH, an assistant professor of population and public health sciences at the Keck School of Medicine. “But the idea that changes being made at the local level can improve the health of your own community could be a powerful message to the public and to policy makers.”
Researchers also calculated the percentage of adults in each zip code who held a bachelor’s degree, as education attainment levels can be used as an indicator of a specific neighborhood’s socioeconomic status. Researchers found that EV adoption was slower in low-resource zip codes, creating what is referred to as an “adoption gap,” thus creating an opportunity for the restoration of environmental justice in those communities disproportionately affected by pollution and related health issues.
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Source: Keck School of Medicine of USC
Comments
The reality is the air is getting better because more and more people have left the cities and state.
Akron Ohio used to be a very dirty city with the rubber industry. All the jobs left but we now have lots of crime, unemployment but we have clean air.
California is by far the most populated state in the nation at 40 Million residents but keep moving those goal posts.
Make that 39 million. Californians have been leaving at the rate of half a million a year since 2020 census…… I wonder why.
Escaping, or trying to escape, high taxes is the reason most frequently given. Hope they leave their idiotic Politics behind, where ever they wind up !
I want them to stay in CA! Please don’t wreck other states!
Too bad they are not as diligent over the raw sewage in the streets of San Francisco.
Those goal post are at the other end of the field.
California is like Disney losing its glow for just another over rated over priced place not to go.
I call BS. I live in this god forsaken state and there are tons of gas vehicles everywhere I drive. Lot’s of stop and go traffic and very few EV’s. Maybe the air is better because the semi trucks that don’t have DEF are now off the road? Or maybe because 98% of the vehicles that are on the road are efficient vehicles that have catalytic converters and fuel injection? There are definitely more EV’s on the road, but not enough to change the air.
Wow, take off the blinders.
So ignore all the EVs that you hate and complain about the fact that you won’t be able to purchase new ICEs after 2035. DEF requirements are more strict in CA. More efficient engines and catalytic converters are because CA pushed the standards higher. And they’re experiencing first hand the benefits.
Instead of complaining and falsely refuting that EVs aren’t helping, maybe you should thank your State for pushing the boundaries and making it a better place to live.
I have lived here in California for sixty plus years and it is not a better place to live because of all the regulations put in place by the left from what I have seen they ruin the cities and then they move up to the mountains and then they burn them down and then they put more taxes on you and they tell what you can and can’t do. Don’t feel yourself up with that this is that is a great place this place is an a s hole in the city’s and very unsafe. Oh and 30 billion dollars in the hole because of Gavin newsom’s policies. If you believe the air quality is better because of a battery powered car perhaps I can interest you in oceanfront property in Nevada.
Hey post what you’re driving GMC fan. I’m sure you have a fleet of the many different GMC EV’s. I’m betting YOUR EV’s haven’t come close to the improvement of air quality from SMOKING WEED as chewing GUMMIES.
I’m all for the attrition theory of older stuff off the street being a plus. Too bad you don’t suffer from the many salt and chemicals that accelerates the demise of vehicles in much of the east.
LOL, I guess that explains why hundreds of thousands of residents and businesses are leaving CA?
Originally from SoCal and the air is way better now than just even 5 years ago – 18.8% of all new vehicles sales in California are BEVs and it has a local impact. Yes I know most of the power is coming from other states – much of which is fossil fuels.
If you live in any of the cities right off the coasts (98% of Californians) your air is coming directly from the ocean. There is a continuous breeze that replaces the air in California. If you live inland, 99.9% of the particles in the air is dust and sand from the desert. All this shows is that somehow air blowing off the ocean is cleaner. Did they choose a day for the first test that had an active pacific volcano????
Remind me of the global warming pictures of glacier park and the original 1989 picture was from February, 94 from March and 01 from May. No duh spring melts snow. We’re your born yesterday?????? Reminds me of my 8th grade science teacher pointing out that the upcoming week it was going to be 90 and growing up I farmer I replied, “isnt that because the winds are shifting of of the south next week” I got a funky glare 😎
Saw the interview with an un-biased weather-scientist who was asked why all the global warming statistics usually use the year of 1850 as a base-point for comparison. He got a big grin on his face and said ” because 1850 was one of the coldest, if not THE COLDEST years on record since weather records were kept” !
Who cares about California any way, wasn’t it supposed to have a gigantic earthquake and fall into the ocean like 40 years ago.
Nice news, I would not have thought the air would be better considering all the fires that have burned through the state.
Another example of junk science. Anyone remember covid mandates?
Sure ! studies find whatever the red commie California pays them to find
Wow ! The well-funded Lithium Mining Lobby and the equally well-funded BEV Lobbyists will grasp at ANY straws to try and bamboozle the gullible into buying a BEV. Never mind that the pollution sources have been transferred to stationary sources in the locales where the extra Electrical Power is being generated to satisfy these Energy Hog BEV’s thirst. Meanwhile Cummins has unveiled their dual-fuel Diesel engines capable of running on Diesel or, the true fuel of the future…..HYDROGEN !
So if the adoption rate was 600/1000, there would be an almost 100% reduction in asthma related ER visits. This would be amazing!
Of course we are ignoring all the other efforts during that time period to reduce emissions, and any possible changes in the natural weather patterns. On the other hand, you guys are the professional scientists, and I’m just a retired statistics professor.
Another cherry picked study. Probably the same scientists that gave us Climate Change, Global Warming, Ozone hole, and Acid Rain studies.
I also call BS.
How about securing the Border so we can take care of our own, veterans and homeless. This will also reduce drug abuse in our youth. Become energy independent by doing clean Drilling and alternative fuel research i.e hydrogen. Build more dams for hydroelectric production, Very clean energy. Build more factories that a high school student could work in for a career something we no longer do in the US. This will also help us pull away from China and their environment killing factories. And put American people in front of political power. Oh and if you want an EV. go buy one just don’t ask for tax payers to help you afford it. The truth of the matter is the people that buy them don’t buy them for the environment they just don’t want to pay five bucks a gallon for gas. Always follow the money to find the truth. Love my selfish C8 I only work 40 years to purchase it new !
End all FEDERAL subsidies, our government should never pick ‘winners’. As for your point about those who purchase BEVs, I would say about 90% do it for economics while the remainder for virtue signaling. Purely economics for me – same with my solar panels and I don’t qualify for the stupid subsidies. As far as what states can mandate, if ONE-PARTY Cali wants 100% BEVs by 2030 the FEDERAL government shouldn’t interfere.
DAN, SILENCE EARTHLING.