Scientists are urging EPA to adopt a cumulative impact approach that more accurately measures the cumulative effects from environmental pollutants and paints a more-complete picture of associated risks.
Funded by billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s Beyond Petrochemicals endeavor, researchers with Johns Hopkins University and Aerodyne Research published a study Monday that uncovered harms not previously identified by cumulative risk assessments that EPA has used.
The researchers tested their novel approach on air measured in southeastern Pennsylvania and concluded EPA’s current approach underestimates the true health risks to communities overburdened with pollution.
“Our new approach to understand the burden of these combined exposures is a significant step toward truly characterizing the real dangers these communities face,” said Keeve Nachman, an environmental health professor at Johns Hopkins University and co-author of the study.
