Health Care Pollution And Public Health Damage In The United States: An Update: Study examines health care pollution and public health damage in the United States.
Open accessAbstract
An up-to-date assessment of environmental emissions in the US health care sector is essential to help policy makers hold the health care industry accountable to protect public health. We update national-level US health-sector emissions. We also estimate state-level emissions for the first time and examine associations with state-level energy systems and health care quality and access metrics. Economywide modeling showed that US health care greenhouse gas emissions rose 6 percent from 2010 to 2018, reaching 1,692 kg per capita in 2018-the highest rate among industrialized nations. In 2018 greenhouse gas and toxic air pollutant emissions resulted in the loss of 388,000 disability-adjusted life-years. There was considerable variation in state-level greenhouse gas emissions per capita, which were not highly correlated with health system quality. These results suggest that the health care sector's outsize environmental footprint can be reduced without compromising quality. To reduce harmful emissions, the health care sector should decrease unnecessary consumption of resources, decarbonize power generation, and invest in preventive care. This will likely require mandatory reporting, benchmarking, and regulated accountability of health care organizations.
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The health sector is a main emitter of environmental pollutants that negatively affect health.
“the sector itself, which aims to protect health, is paradoxically at the same time the main emitter of environmental pollutants that have a negative impact on health itself.”
From Towards Green and Sustainable Healthcare: A Literature Review and Research Agenda for Green Leadership in the Healthcare Sector (2023) · cites this paper as [13]
Healthcare, including pharmaceuticals, is responsible for 4.4% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
“At the same time, healthcare, including pharmaceuticals, is responsible for 4.4% of global greenhouse gas emissions [13].”
From Towards Green and Sustainable Healthcare: A Literature Review and Research Agenda for Green Leadership in the Healthcare Sector (2023) · cites this paper as [13]
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- Authors
- Eckelman, M. J., Huang, K., Lagasse, R., Senay, E., Dubrow, R., & Sherman, J. D.
- Affiliations
- Northeastern University (US)
- Yale University (US)
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (US)
- Venue
- Health Affairs
- Publisher
- Health Affairs Publishing, LLC
- Published
- 2020-12-01
- Volume
- 39
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 2071-2079
- ISSN
- 0278-2715 (ISSN-L)
- 1544-5208
- OpenAlex
- W3113201814
- Cited by
- 706
- References
- 22
- Citations by year
- 2026: 107 · 2025: 163 · 2024: 164 · 2023: 142 · 2022: 101 · 2021: 27
- FWCI
- 24.26
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Health Affairs (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Environmental Impact and Sustainability
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Climate Change and Health Impacts
- Social Sciences › Urban Studies › Healthcare Facilities Design and Sustainability
- Keywords
- healthcare emissions, greenhouse gas emissions, hazardous air pollutants, environmental pollution, disability-adjusted life years, state-level emissions, quality of care, health care access, decarbonization, energy systems, mandatory reporting, health care accountability, preventive medicine
- MeSH terms
- Greenhouse Gases, Air Pollutants, Air Pollution, Delivery of Health Care, Environmental Monitoring, Humans, Public Health, United States
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