Health burden associated with tillage-related PM2.5 pollution in the United States, and mitigation strategies

Ashish Pokharel; David A Hennessy; Felicia Wu

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166161

Health burden associated with tillage-related PM_2.5 pollution in the United States, and mitigation strategies

Sci Total Environ. 2023 Dec 10:903:166161. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166161. Epub 2023 Aug 11.

Authors

Ashish Pokharel¹, David A Hennessy², Felicia Wu³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
² Department of Economics, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA.
³ Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA; Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA. Electronic address: fwu@msu.edu.

PMID: 37574060
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166161

Abstract

Exposure to airborne particulate matter of diameter less than 2.5 μm (PM_2.5) is associated with cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In agriculture, the practice of tilling generates PM_2.5 emissions that can jeopardize human health. This paper estimates the annual deaths and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) from CVD and COPD attributable to PM_2.5 emissions from corn, soybean, cotton, and wheat tillage in the contiguous United States. Primary PM_2.5 from crop-tillage combination was calculated using values obtained from the Environmental Protection Agency's National Emissions Inventory, 2017, while deaths and DALYs estimates were calculated using data from the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation's global burden of risk factors study, the US decennial census, and the US Centers for Disease Control. We also propose and implement a conceptual framework for identifying the optimal subsidy upon accounting for health benefits arising from reducing conventional tillage, and we discuss strategies to achieve conservation tillage. Annual PM_2.5 emissions from crop tillage is about 0.25 million tons. We estimate that approximately 1000 annual deaths and 22,000 DALYs from CVD, as well as 300 annual deaths and 7400 DALYs from COPD, were attributable to tillage-related PM_2.5 emissions. Tillage related primary PM_2.5 emissions contribute about 0.002 % of total CVD and COPD deaths in the United States, and its related health economic value loss is about 12.9 billion USD annually. About 350 annual deaths may be averted upon a shift from conventional to conservation tillage. Conservation tillage is generally adopted when the pecuniary and soil health benefits exceed those from adopting intensive tillage. Agricultural policies and on-farm measures that may help reduce intensive tillage, and the related PM_2.5 emissions, include subsidies for adopting conservation tillage and carbon capture credits, use of herbicides and herbicide-tolerant crops, protecting herbicide-tolerance traits, planting cover crops, and use of windbreaks.

Keywords: Cardiovascular diseases; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Conservation tillage; Cover crop; Particulate matter.