Air quality in America : a dose of reality on air pollution levels, trends, and health risks

Introduction -- The five main findings of this study -- The nation has sharply reduced air pollution levels, despite large increases in nominally "polluting" activities -- Areas of the nation with the highest pollution levels have improved the most -- Air quality will continue to improve -- Regulators and environmental activists exaggerate air pollution levels and obscure positive trends -- Air pollution affects far fewer people, far less often, and with far less severity than is commonly believed -- Conclusion -- 1. Air quality trends before and after the Clean Air Act of 1970 -- Before the Clean Air Act : steady improvements in air quality -- Why did air quality improve before the Clean Air Act? -- More driving, more energy, more economic activity ... and less air pollution -- Trends in nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and carbon monoxide -- Hazardous air pollutants -- Conclusion -- 2. Ozone : historic trends and current conditions -- National trends in ozone levels -- The chemistry of slower progress on 8-hour ozone levels -- Conclusion. 3. Particulates : historic trends and current conditions -- National trends in particulate matter (PM₁₀ and PM₂.₅) -- Trends in PM₂.₅ -- Trends in PM₁₀ -- Conclusion -- 4. Why air pollution will continue to decline -- Overview of national pollution emission trends -- Emissions sources -- Continuing declines in motor vehicle emissions -- Continuing declines in industrial emissions -- Existing requirements will eliminate most remaining pollution emissions -- Conclusion -- 5. Exaggerating air pollution levels ; obscuring positive trends -- Americans' perception of air pollution -- Inflating air pollution levels -- Counting clean areas as polluted -- Same failing grades for high- and low-pollution areas -- Air quality : much worse on paper than in reality -- Refuting their own claims -- Making pollution decreases look like pollution increases -- Climate change and air pollution -- Conclusion -- 6. How many Americans live in areas that violate federal air pollution standards? Far fewer than you think -- Who really lives in areas that violate federal pollution standards? 7. Air pollution and health -- How do scientists assess air pollution's health effects? -- Does air pollution kill? -- Does air pollution cause people to develop asthma? -- Does air pollution cause permanent lung damage? -- Does air pollution aggravate preexisting health problems? -- Laboratory studies and short-term air pollution health effects -- Does air pollution cause cancer? -- Health benefits from air pollution? -- Mercury and health -- Conclusion : regulatory costs and Americans' health -- 8. Has the Clean Air Act been good for Americans? -- A process-focused system -- Environmentalists, regulators, and other special interests -- War without end -- Better ways to achieve cleaner air -- Conclusion -- Appendixes -- Chapter 2 : state-by-state ozone trends -- Chapter 3. : state-by-state PM₂.₅ trends -- Chapter 6 : how we estimated the number of people living in areas that violate pollution standards.