Fairbanks air pollution linked to increased hospital visits

Here's more bad news for Fairbanks on air pollution: A new state health study shows when pollution from tiny particulates rises in the Fairbanks North Star Borough, more people go to the hospital. 

The state Department of Health's study of 5,718 hospital visits showed a 6 percent increased risk of a hospital visit for respiratory problems in people under age 65, and 6 to 7 percent added risk of a hospital visit for stroke-related issues. The higher rate of stroke-related visits applies to people both over and under 65.

The report, released Monday, reviewed Fairbanks Memorial Hospital admissions from 2003 to 2008 and emergency room visits from 2008.

It compared that information with Fairbanks pollution data and found the rate of hospital visits is related to worsening levels of particulates. 

The borough's particulate problem is largely due to wood-burning stoves and outdoor wood-boilers, said Glenn Miller, borough transportation director. Smoky skies from summer forest fires also contribute.

The new study's author, public health specialist Rachel Kossover, concluded that people should pay attention to the local alerts that tell when it's safe for people in each health risk group to go outside, or exercise, for example.

But the borough is also under federal orders to clean up its particulate problem, Miller said.

Most of the excessive particulate pollution takes place in winter, though wildfires can cause spikes above the legal limit in summer. 

The concern is about fine particulate matter called PM 2.5, meaning it is less than 2.5 microns -- 2.5 millionths of a meter -- in diameter.

A state health fact sheet describes particulate matter as small particles and liquid droplets. It comes from "dust, soot and unburned fuel suspended in the air," according to the fact sheet.

It's not good for you. The fine particulates are small enough to travel far into the lungs, and increase risks of heart attack and stroke, lung inflammation and asthma attacks, among other health conditions, says the state.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency last December declared most of the Fairbanks North Star Borough to be out of compliance with federal air standards due to its level of PM 2.5.

The designation encompasses the City of Fairbanks, North Pole, Goldstream Valley, Chena Ridge -- the places where 85 to 90 percent of the population in the borough lives, Miller said.

Automobiles, and burning of home heating oil, waste oil and coal contribute fine particulates, he said.

Four power plants in the area -- at Eielson Air Force Base, Fort Wainwright, the University of Alaska and Aurora Energy -- together consume an estimated 440,000 tons annually of coal, he said.

What to do about wood stoves in Fairbanks has stirred up a lot of controversy. 

The Borough Assembly passed a law in June aimed at cutting back on wood-burning pollution. The law requires any new wood stoves to be efficient EPA-certified stoves. The law also set up a program with $1 million dedicated to pay residents to either remove a wood stove, replace an old one with a more efficient model or repair damaged stoves.

"That program has been extremely popular with a lot of folks," Miller said.

On the other hand, some residents don't want the borough regulating stoves at all.

An initiative on the borough's Oct. 5 election ballot will let voters say yes or no to the statement: "The borough shall not ban, prohibit, or fine residents for the use of home heating devices," the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner newspaper reported this month.

The borough's air quality for both carbon monoxide and fine particulates was within legal limits until the EPA made the standard for fine particulates more stringent beginning in 2006, said Miller.

Fairbanks and Anchorage have had similar air quality over the past three decades except for the PM 2.5 problem that Fairbanks has and Anchorage doesn't, said Miller. The difference, he said, is that Anchorage has natural gas for heating, and Fairbanks doesn't. 

Natural gas doesn't generate the particulate problem.

Both cities get temperature inversions in winter, in which cold, polluted air is trapped near the surface while higher elevations warm up. 

Both also came in line with federal carbon monoxide limits about a decade ago.

Find Rosemary Shinohara online at adn.com/contact/rshinohara or call her at 257-4340.