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The American Energy Consumer







damage to crops $.2 billion. Other costs, such as damage to animal health were not estimated, so the true total was higher.

Footnotes

Footnote :

a The federal standards are 75 μg/m3 for particulates and 80 ug/m3 for sulfur dioxide, whereas all effects cited by Higgins and Ferris occur at 100 to 130 μg/m3. The air quality standard for sulfur dioxide is an annual arithmetic mean; for particulates it is an annual geometric mean. These standards relate only to particulates by total weight. But there is more and more evidence being developed that the most dangerous component of particulate pollution is the "small particle" component. These particles, too small to be seen by the naked eye, apparently pass directly into the deepest part of the lung. SO2 can irritate lung tissue directly, or, if certain trace minerals are present, can form sulfuric acid, which is more irritating still. There are no present standards for small particles.

For a complete discussion, see S. K. Friedlander, "Small Particles in Air Pose a Big Control Problem," Environmental Science and Technology 7 (12) (December 1973); and, "A Review of the Health Effects of Sulfur Oxides," submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (October 1973) at the request of the Director by D. P. Rall, Director, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

Footnote :

a Best judgment is within the range of expert technical evaluation.

Footnote :

a Best judgment is within the range of expert technical evaluation.

POLLUTION AND WHERE PEOPLE LIVE

The question of where pollution is greatest and who suffers most from it is answered by determining who lives where. Using Washington, D.C. as the example, overlay mapping, together with statistics of income and pollution, gives us that answer. Mapping shows pollution and the kinds of people it affects, in the same reference frame and at a glance. It is visual and therefore more readily comprehended than are statistical tables.

The Washington maps show as completely as possible the relationship between air quality and the social and economic characteristics of those affected by it. Previous work has stressed one or two pollutants and one characteristic (usually income). This chapter considers the four major pollutants and five different socioeconomic characteristics for a recent period. Information on particulates compares data for two different years.

Step one in examining the incidence of air pollution by socioeconomic grouping was to map a group of characteristics by census tract for the most densely populated part of the metropolitan area. This area includes all of the District of Columbia, Arlington County, Va., Alexandria, Va., and Falls Church, Va. It also includes large parts of Montgomery and Prince George's Counties in Maryland and of Fairfax County, Va. These places contain about two-thirds the population of the Washington, D.C. Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area. The social and economic characteristics used were two measures of income (poverty and a general income distribution); an index of rent levels; a measure of the proportion of professionals and managers in the labor force; and an indicator of racial concentration. Each of these characteristics was mapped on the identified area using 1970 census tract information.

The maps in Figure 6-1 show this more clearly. The first map (Fig. 6-1, part A) indicates areas where 15 percent or more of the households were poor by the government's definition. Part B indicates occupational status. It shows census tracts according to the percentage of professional and managerial workers in the labor force. The white areas are those where less than 25 percent of the labor force is professional and managerial, the grey areas are where 25 to 50 percent of the labor force is professional or managerial, and the dark areas have more than 50 percent. Part C divides the area according to rents