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The Business of Health Care Report
Our focus today is on the hazardous effects of air pollution on the health and economy of North Texas. The Environmental Protection Agency classifies the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex as a non-attainment area. This means that the air we breathe does not meet federal clean air standards. Overall, there are 38 Texas counties that fall below the government’s healthy air levels. The American Lung Association also gives Collin, Dallas and Denton counties a failing grade in air quality. And Fort Worth and Arlington topped the list of metropolitan regions in Texas with the highest levels of emissions from automobiles. Each of us, along with the other 137 million Americans exposed to unhealthy levels of air pollution, pays for this hazard by placing our health at risk. Scientific research links air pollution to lung cancer, asthma, respiratory ailments and cardiovascular disease. Those most sensitive to the harmful effects of air pollution are the elderly, children and those with respiratory health problems. The U.S. Department of Energy names transportation as the largest single source of air pollution in the United States. The financial impact of air pollution is staggering. Ozone-related respiratory health problems account for $4 billion annually. In total, the human health costs of air pollution range from $14 to $55 billion annually. The efforts of local, state and federal agencies to clean the air are vital for a healthy life and a healthy economy. The EPA estimates that up to 7,900 premature deaths nationwide could be avoided and $54 billion in annual health benefits could be saved by the year 2010 if proposed emission-reduction plans are followed. So, for our own good, we all need to become knowledgeable on how to be more environmentally friendly and make a concerted effort to clean our air. For Texas Health Resources
and its family of hospitals - Harris Methodist Hospitals, Presbyterian
Healthcare System and Arlington Memorial Hospital - I'm CEO
Doug Hawthorne
with "The Business of Health Care Report" on NewsRadio 1080 KRLD.
©
2004 Texas Health Resources |
I'm Doug Hawthorne, President and CEO of Texas Health Resources, with
"The Business of Health Care Report" on 