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Saturday, March 7, 2020

US air pollution is down a lot since 1980 -- but few people know that

41%
of U.S. voters 
believe that 
the air in the 
United States 
is now 
more polluted 
than it was 
in the 1980s. 

Consisting of 
52% of people 
who plan to vote for 
a Democrat president 
in November, 
and 28% of people 
who plan to vote for 
President Trump.

In fact, U.S. air pollution 
is way down since 1980:

The US Environmental
Protection Agency
          ( EPA )
created by Republican
President Richard Nixon,
measures air pollutants.

The average U.S. 
outdoor levels of:

· carbon monoxide 
DOWN 84% 
from 1980 through 2017.

· ozone 
DOWN 32% 
from 1980 through 2017.

· lead 
DOWN 99% 
from 1980 through 2017.

· nitrogen dioxide
DOWN 60% 
from 1980 through 2017.

· 10 micron particulate matter 
DOWN 34% 
from 1990 through 2017.

· 2.5 micron particulate matter 
DOWN 41% 
from 2000 through 2017.

· sulfur dioxide 
DOWN 90% 
from 1980 through 2017.



The EPA 
also estimates 
the emissions 
of 187 other 
hazardous 
air pollutants, 
that present 
“a threat of adverse 
human health effects” .

Emissions of those 
187 substances, 
when combined,  
are down about 50% 
since the earliest 
data, from the 1990s.

Outdoor hazardous 
air pollution levels 
have declined 
so much that
the EPA estimates 
they increase 
the average risk 
of cancer over a 
70-year-lifetime 
by only +0.004% !

Note: 
The average
lifetime risk of 
developing cancer 
is 38% for U.S. women 
and 40% for U.S. men.