Topline
Scientists have linked the air pollution caused by the collection, transportation and refilement processes of oil and gas to more than 90,000 early deaths—and 10,000 pre-term births—each year in the United States, with minority groups bearing a disproportionate burden of health impacts.
Silhouetted oil pumps in California.
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Key Facts
Scientists at University College London, George Washington University, University of Colorado Boulder and Stockholm Environment Institute examined the health impacts at every stage of the oil and gas supply chain in a study published Friday in the journal Science Advances.
Researchers found that 20% of pre-term births and adult deaths were connected to fine particulate pollution from oil and gas, and that 90% of new childhood asthma cases tied to nitrogen dioxide pollution were caused by the industry.
The study found that all stages of the oil and gas “lifecycle” produce air pollutants that either directly harm public health or create additional health-damaging pollutants, but each stage causes different health problems that impact different groups.
Health outcomes caused from long-term exposure to oil and gas pollutants include premature death, preterm births, childhood-onset asthma and cancers, and Texas and California residents carry the greatest health burden for almost all stages of production.
Black and Asian people are most impacted by emissions from processing, refining, distribution and use, while Indigenous and Hispanic populations are hit hardest by pollution caused by exploration, extraction and transportation.
“Downstream” activities (like oil refining, gas processing and synthesis of petrochemical products) produce less air pollution than any of the other three defined “lifecycle” phases in the study, but cause the most unequal health burden, with impacts concentrated in majority-Black areas like parts of southern Louisiana and eastern Texas.
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Big Number
216,000. That’s how many new cases of childhood asthma per year are attributable to air pollution from the oil and gas industry, the study found. It also linked oil and gas pollutants to 91,000 early deaths, 10,350 pre-term births and 1,610 lifetime cancers.
Key Background
The link between fossil fuels and air pollution was first proven in the 1950s, spurred by smog blankets covering Los Angeles and New York City. A Caltech study in 1954 funded by the Western States Petroleum Association determined that coal, oil and gas CO2 emissions were changing the amount of carbon dioxide in the air and would likely cause changes “of considerable significance to civilization.” The Clean Air Act was enacted in 1963, and the 1970s brought significant changes to air pollution regulation, followed by other legislation in the decades since.. President Donald Trump has rolled back various air pollution regulations, including weakening regulations under the Obama-era Clean Power Plan and loosening regulations for certain industrial pollutants, impacting facilities like oil refineries, chemical plants, and steel mills. Last month, the Trump administration proposed revoking a scientific finding that determined carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses pose a danger to public health. That declaration is the legal standing for many of the Environmental Protection Agency’s climate regulations under the Clean Air Act.
Tangent
The 85-mile stretch of southern Louisiana between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, where large oil-refining activities are concentrated and at least 25% of the nation’s petrochemical production occurs, is known as “cancer alley.” In seven Louisiana parishes along that part of the Mississippi River, there are 200 plants that emit so many toxic chemicals they must report their emissions to the government, according to a 2019 ProPublica report that found at least seven facilities dubbed “major sources” of toxic air pollution would be expanding in the years to follow. One city, St. Gabriel, was found to have higher estimated levels of toxic air from cancer-causing chemicals than 99% of the country. Friday’s study said eastern Texas was also subject to similar health outcomes caused by oil and gas to southern Louisiana. ProPublica estimates around 256,000 Americans live in areas where incidences of cancer caused by air pollution exceed 1 in 10,000.
Further Reading
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2025/08/22/study-links-oil-and-gas-pollution-with-90000-premature-deaths-10000-preterm-births-annually/