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Study finds industrial air pollution contributes to New Mexico’s low birthweight

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Study finds industrial air pollution contributes to New Mexico’s low birthweight


Map of identified chemicals emitted from industrial facilities in N.M. and surrounding areas from 2008 to 2017. Credit: Journal of Environmental Management (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119236

Babies born with weights less than 5 lbs 8 ounces (2,500 grams), can face a host of health challenges and an increased risk for chronic health problems like diabetes and heart disease later in life. Now, for the first time, researchers at The University of New Mexico have linked industrial air pollution to the state’s above-average rates of babies born with low birthweight in a study published in the Journal of Environmental Management.

About one in 12 babies in the United States is born with low birthweight, but in New Mexico, the rate is nearly one in 10, according to March of Dimes. While the connection between low birth weight and air pollution has been researched before in other places, the study, “Industrial air pollution and low birth weight in New Mexico, U.S.,” is the first of its kind in New Mexico. The study examined the relationship between industrial emissions that mothers were exposed to at their residential locations while pregnant and the weight of their babies at birth.

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The research team included members of the UNM Department of Geography and Environmental Studies: Assistant Professor Xi Gong, Ph.D. Candidate Yanhong Huang, and Associate Professor Yan Lin; as well as Jenny Duong from New Mexico Department of Health; Assistant Professor Shuguang Leng from UNM Department of Internal Medicine; Professor F. Benjamin Zhan from Texas State University; Professor Yan Guo from University of Miami; and Associate Professor Li Luo from UNM Department of Internal Medicine.

The team used data from the New Mexico Department of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency in an emission weighted proximity model to quantify exposure intensity by home address. They analyzed New Mexico birth certificates from 2008 to 2017, which included 233,340 babies with normal birth weight and 22,375 babies with low birth weight (defined as less than 2500 grams in the study). Researchers also compared information on demographic and medical factors between both groups for the analysis.

“We wanted to find out if industrial air pollution is a risk factor for low birthweight in New Mexico and we were able to identify five air pollutants that show significant positive associations to low birthweight,” Huang said.

Low birth weight can contribute to the development of diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, developmental disabilities, metabolic syndrome and obesity later in life. It can also create immediate challenges for babies like retinopathy, and problems with breathing and digestion, according to March of Dimes.

The study relied on annual emissions data from the EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory Program, which requires industrial facilities in the U.S. to submit detailed emissions reports each year, and air quality monitoring data from the EPA’s Air Quality System DataMart to determine the amounts of air pollutants pregnant people were exposed to.

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Researchers discovered that residential exposures to several pollutants during pregnancy had positive associations with low birthweight in babies: 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, benzene, chlorine, ethylbenzene, and styrene. Each of the pollutants is the result of industrial operations and the researchers found that the closer pregnant people lived to facilities generating those pollutants, the more likely they were to have a baby with low birthweight.

While many of the pollutants have been identified as contributors to low birthweight in previous studies, this study identified 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene for the first time. The publication is the first individual-based study conducted over a long period in New Mexico that examines the effects of air pollution on low birthweight.

The study found that emissions were largely concentrated in the northwest region, southeast region and Albuquerque area. Researchers suggest further research should emphasize the southeastern part of the state, which is close to more than 50 industrial facilities in Texas that emit the five chemicals identified in the study.

“We hope these results can be used to help the public and government officials better understand the environmental risks of industrial air pollutants,” Gong said. Gong and Huang will next work on a similar study focused on industrial air pollution and cancer rates in New Mexico.

More information:
Xi Gong et al, Industrial air pollution and low birth weight in New Mexico, USA, Journal of Environmental Management (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119236

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Study finds industrial air pollution contributes to New Mexico’s low birthweight (2024, June 3)
retrieved 3 June 2024
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New Mexico

Wintry Wednesday ahead for New Mexico

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Wintry Wednesday ahead for New Mexico


A winter weather advisory remains in effect until Friday morning for a large portion of southern New Mexico. See the latest conditions at KOB.com/Weather.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Wednesday started snowy for some but just downright chilly for everyone in New Mexico as a blast of winter weather continues.

A winter weather advisory is in effect until Friday at 5 a.m. for swathes of southern New Mexico. In the advisory area, three inches of snow and slick roads are expected.

Across the state, the balmiest temperature was 33° in Silver City but we are going to warm up soon.

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Meteorologist Kira Miner shares all the details in her full forecast in the video above.

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New Mexico

Employer roundtables scheduled in southeast NM

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Employer roundtables scheduled in southeast NM


Jan. 7—Workforce challenges in southeast New Mexico will be the topic of multiple conversations with state and local leaders during a series of roundtables starting today. New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions Cabinet Secretary Sarita Nair will be traveling to the corner of the state to unveil new names and logos for the local workforce centers and to have employer roundtable …



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New Mexico

New Mexico Green Amendment to be filed in Legislature this week • Source New Mexico

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New Mexico Green Amendment to be filed in Legislature this week • Source New Mexico


A proposal to create a fundamental right to a clean environment on par with other rights found in New Mexico’s constitution will return to the Legislature in the coming days.

The sponsors will prefile the legislation this week, Sen. Harold Pope (D-Albuquerque), said during a news conference Tuesday with other sponsors and advocates. Lawmakers have already turned in bills dealing with tribal education, retired public sector workers’ health care and foster care in advance of the session starting Jan. 21.

If passed and signed into law, the legislation would create a ballot question asking voters whether to add a Green Amendment to the New Mexico Constitution.

Traditional environmental laws often fail to prevent harm because they focus on regulating how much damage pollution does, rather than preventing it altogether, argues Maya van Rossum, founder of the nonprofit Green Amendments for the Generations.

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Three states have constitutional Green Amendments that protect people’s right to clean water and air, a safe climate and a healthy environment, van Rossum said during the news conference: Pennsylvania, Montana and New Jersey.

Similar amendments have been proposed in 19 other states, she said, with an ongoing ballot initiative in one state.

If the amendment passes, New Mexico would be the first state in the country to explicitly recognize in its state constitutional Bill of Rights the right of all people, including future generations, to a safe climate, she said.

It would also be the first to lift up critical environmental justice protections to that highest constitutional level, she said.

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Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s administration has passed strong regulations to protect the environment, said Sen. Antoinette Sedillo López (D-Albuquerque), but she is worried about how the federal government could try to roll back those gains.

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The Green Amendment is a way to protect New Mexico from the excesses of the incoming Donald Trump administration, she said.

It will be the fifth time the Green Amendment has been debated at the Roundhouse. The proposal has been introduced every year since 2021.

Previous versions of the bill would have repealed an existing part of the state constitution that recognizes that the Legislature has a duty to protect commonly owned natural resources and ensure the public can use them. This year’s version keeps that in place, van Rossum said.

It took 10 years of persistent advocacy and some changes in who had power at the Roundhouse to end the death penalty, Sedillo López said.

“We have some changes in the Legislature, and we have a growing number of advocates who continue to provide sustained advocacy,” she said of the efforts around the Green Amendment. “And, we have persistent legislators. We will get this done.”

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It also took five years of legislative debate to create New Mexico’s community solar program, Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero (D-Albuquerque) noted.

Roybal Caballero said so long as New Mexico lacks necessary guardrails like the Green Amendment, the state’s inhabitants remain at risk of declining children’s health, raging wildfires and flash floods.

“Our right to clean air, water, soil and environment should be protected above profits for the elite,” Roybal Caballero said. “Let New Mexicans decide if we prefer drinkable water for ourselves and future generations, or to continue to line the pocketbooks of the elite few.”

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