JenniferSpartzAnnotation19OilAffectingAir

Annotation 19 Oil Refinery Toxics Found in Air of Nearby Homes This article was written by a group that reports on environmental justice. This allows them to report on harm done to the environment by oil companies and their impacts on local health. This article reports on the toxins released from Chevron oil refinery and the health effects caused in Richmond and Bolinas, California due to these pollutants. To do this they tested the indoor and outdoor air of 40 homes in Richmond and 10 homes in Bolinas which was the non-industrial area used as a control. They studied over 150 chemicals. They placed an extra focus on the indoor environment since people spend an average of 90% of their day indoors. The test results showed that 104 toxins were found in Richmond homes while 69 were found in the houses of Bolinas. These extra toxins became the first “fingerprint” of oil refinery pollutants. This became important because originally outdoor air was considered to be the main problem; however, this proves that indoor air is a problem too. “Toxic pollution from oil refineries doesn’t stay outside; it seeps into homes where people spend most of their time” (Brody 2010). The particulate matter levels were also higher in Richmond than the California ambient air quality standard. The levels of vanadium and nickel from oil combustion were very high. Cancer and respiratory rates drastically increased in this area. The community no longer wanted Chevron to refine dirty oil due to the possible negative health impacts of living so close. The implications of these findings are that industry is having an unwanted impact on people in close proximity to factories. The towns themselves are starting to take notice of mistakes and the impacts those mistakes have on them and are beginning to speak up about it. Also air quality is possibly being spread across the US from places not in immediate proximity to people, yet there are still visibly negative health effects. The trend that this study follows is that indoor air is becoming more of a problem due to problems with outdoor air. Plus it follows the idea that poor air quality is spreading and having negative effects on health. The article shows its bias simply because it does not touch upon why the company may want to continue in this industry. While I believe the health of people is vitally important, it is also important to acknowledge that the other position may also have a point. This article can contribute to our class questions by the fact that certain factors of a city or industrial area contribute to asthma prevalence. In this case, the problem caused by industry is poor air quality due to toxins being pumped into the environment. These toxins are having very strong negative effects on health of people living in the area. These problems include cancer and asthma. Citation: “Oil Refinery Toxics Found in Air of Nearby Homes.” Silent Spring Institute. 29 March 2010. .