Cardenas 1

Lesly Cardenas
Instructor Dubey
Writing 39C
April 18, 2014
Aircrafts Were Meant to Fly, not Toxify the Sky
More than 131.8 million people 42 percent of the nation live where pollution levels
often make breathing a hazardous activity (Neporent). A large part of it comes from airports.
Airports worldwide are necessary to transport people and goods around the world in a brief
period of time. The Los Angeles Airport has been around since the 1920s. It became the first
municipal airport for the city with the help of the major airlines American, Trans World, United,
and Western (kcet.org). However, the large mechanical machines are huge emitters of pollutants
into the nearby areas. As an international airport, it is the leading cause for health related
problems for neighboring cities such as Inglewood and Hawthorne, California. The problem of
severe air pollution by Los Angeles Airport (LAX) causes illnesses such as autism, pneumonia,
asthma, and cancer in neighboring areas. Air pollution is triggered by the failure of maintaining
the airports size and emissions at a manageable growth rate, and a lack of stricter policies to
reduce air pollutants.
Since the creation of the international airport carbon emissions, its leading problem, rose.
According to Rosenthal, a New York Times reporter, carbon emissions, which is carbon dioxide,
leaks from human activity and contributes to global warming. The Environmental Protection
Agency which is in charge of setting regulations to maintain a stabilized environment and
researches on the problem states that carbon emission is the cause of 5% of the worlds global
warming. Airport pollution and pollution from other transportation are the second leading cause
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for greenhouse gases, increasing global warming. With the constant need to travel and a
neverending growth of the human population, LAX will continue to grow and also emit more
carbon which is expected to result into approximated higher levels of global warming.
Asthma is easily affected by pollution given by planes. The Natural Resource Defense
Council is an environmental action
group with over 1 million members
and 350 experts in law and scientific
inquiry. Their research shows that 30%
of the cases of asthma is a result from
environmental factors, such as,
pollution. It is the cause of 3,000
deaths in America each year. Cases are
usually found in children but anyone can get asthma at any age. Figure 1 shows how the airways
between a normal person and an asthmatic person differ. The airways of an asthmatic person are
inflamed and covered by a mucus, making it difficult to breathe. The Long Beach Alliance for
Children with Asthma, or LBACA for short concludes that there are about 6.8 million children
in the United States with asthma. Children who live closer to LAX are in high risk in receiving
asthma, a tragedy for mothers that worry constantly over the wheezing, coughing, or having a
hard time breathing (LBACA).
According to Flying Clean Los Angeles Airport is the largest source of NOx, the
leading cause of smog in Los Angeles which also contributes to health issues. The smog in L.A.
makes it number one in terms with the worst ozone pollution in the country for thirteen years.
It is also responsible for asthma attacks, respiratory infections and premature death according
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to ONeill, a graduate from Loyola Law School and a nine year experienced journalist. It is not
surprising that Los Angeles is known for having the worst airport pollution because the Los
Angeles Airport is international and attends to about 55 million passengers yearly. This is
according to LAWA, Los Angeles World Airport, the website owned by the owners of the Los
Angeles Airport.

Annotated Source
Becerra TA, Wilhelm M, Olsen J, Cockburn M, Ritz B. 2013. Ambient Air Pollution and
Autism in Los Angeles County, California. Environ Health Perspect 121:380386;
http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1205827
Beane Ritz is a professor with a Ph.D. in the School of Public Health at UCLA
attempting to illustrate how exposure to air toxins leads to autism in children while the
mother is pregnant. It is written in the form of a scholarly article for the Environmental
Health Perspectives website that advocates for a greener planet. The authors used a series
of references from other scholarly articles and also from organizational websites on the
topic as evidence and resources for their work. Their audience are those that are also
advocating for a more sustainable city and would like to know the consequences of air
pollution of Los Angeles in pregnant women and unborn children.
Cheung, Kalam, et al. "Historical Trends In The Mass And Chemical Species
Concentrations Of Coarse Particulate Matter In The Los Angeles Basin And Relation To
Sources And Air Quality Regulations." Journal Of The Air & Waste Management
Association (Taylor & Francis Ltd) 62.5 (2012): 541-556. Academic Search Complete.
Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
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The article was written by Cheung whom is part of the Department of Civil and
Environmental Engineering in USC, as stated by the website; he attempts to make the
connection between the history of water basins near a large majority of people and how
that relates that air quality regulations through the years. As he has collaborated in many
articles before prior to this one, and his topics all (if not, most) relate to water basins, then
I can assume that his research on this topic is accurate. This is because he has had a lot of
experience throughout the years on just this one specific topic. In order to prove his point,
he uses a study conducted from 1986-2009 and uses data from other scholarly journals.
His audience is the educated who are in use of information as specific as this one.
Evaluated Bibliography Source
"Carbon Dioxide Emissions." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, 2014. Web. 14
Apr. 2014. <http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/gases/co2.html>.
The EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, is a government program that sets
regulations and standards for the usage of harmful items in the atmosphere. In this
detailed report, it talks about carbon dioxide emissions. There are many helpful statistics.
For example, In 2012, CO2 accounted for about 82% of all U.S. greenhouse gas
emissions from human activities. Since the site is government funded and the data
comes from the results of extensive research in all over the country, the source is
credible. Also the site has many pieces of detail that I could use all about carbon dioxide,
which is my topic for the first few paragraphs. There is a pie chart and a line graph that
they use to present their data and offer solutions as well for the problems. The website is
updated very frequently, with the last update being on April 15, 2014.
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O'Neill, Stephanie. "LA-area Has Nation's Worst Ozone, but Quality Is Improving."
KPCC. American Lung Association, 24 Apr. 2013. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.scpr.org/news/2013/04/24/36955/lung-association-state-of-the-air-report-la-
area-h/>
The report states the causes for the air contamination around the Los Angeles area and
the people at risk nearby. The report goes down to the biological level of the effects of
the toxins entering a human body. The report was written to raise awareness for the air
quality in several areas with high contamination, especially Los Angeles which came in
highest levels in ozone pollution. It offers possible solutions that can help reduce the
amount of unhealthy ozone days. In order to provide evidence for the argument at
hand, the report shows several graphs with the statistics of the air quality in the past and
has the collaboration of the American Lung Association. The reporter is Stephanie
ONeill whom graduated from Loyola Law School and has a degree from there. She has
been working at her current job as a Health Care Correspondent after nine years of
prior experience as a reporter in Los Angeles Times and The California Report, a
statewide radio magazine with the Los Angeles Bureau Chief, and has written many
reports before and so is credible as a reporter. The paper is recent, written in 2013 and the
reports going from 2004.


Working Bibliography
"Aircraft." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, 22 Nov. 2013. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.epa.gov/otaq/aviation.htm>.
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"Asthma and Air Pollution." Natural Resource Defense Council. NRDC, 28 Jan. 2014.
Web. 17 Apr. 2014. <http://www.nrdc.org/health/effects/fasthma.asp>.
Becerra TA, Wilhelm M, Olsen J, Cockburn M, Ritz B. 2013. Ambient Air Pollution and
Autism in Los Angeles County, California. Environ Health Perspect 121:380386;
http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1205827
"Carbon Dioxide Emissions." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, 2014. Web. 14
Apr. 2014. <http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/gases/co2.html>.
Cheung, Kalam, et al. "Historical Trends In The Mass And Chemical Species
Concentrations Of Coarse Particulate Matter In The Los Angeles Basin And Relation To
Sources And Air Quality Regulations." Journal Of The Air & Waste Management
Association (Taylor & Francis Ltd) 62.5 (2012): 541-556. Academic Search Complete.
Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
"Clean Sky." Aviation & Environment. Clean Sky, 2011. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.cleansky.eu/content/homepage/aviation-environment>.
Dearden, Lizzie. "Air Pollution Causes 7 Million, Report Finds." The Independent.
Independent Digital News and Media, 29 Mar. 2014. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/air-pollution-causes-7-million-deaths-in-a-
year-report-finds-9223393.html>.
"Issue Briefing: Impacts of Airplane Pollution on Climate Change and Health."Flying
Clean. Flying Clean, 2013. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.flyingclean.com/impacts_airplane_pollution_climate_change_and_health>.
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"LAX Environmental - Air Quality - Project Schedule." Los Angeles World Airports. City of
L.A., Apr. 2012. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.lawa.org/welcome_LAX.aspx?id=1066>.
Katz, Cheryl. "Unequal Exposures: People in Poor, Non-white Neighborhoods Breathe
More Hazardous Particles." Environmental Health News. Environmental Health News,
01 Nov. 2012. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2012/unequal-exposures>.
Kuipers, Dean. "L.A. Air Pollution May Increase Risk of Stroke." Los Angeles Times. Los
Angeles Times, 15 Feb. 2012. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
<http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/15/local/la-me-gs-la-air-pollution-may-increase-risk-
of-stroke-20120214>.
Neporent, Liz. "Los Angeles Tops Dirty Air List for 13th Time in 14 Years."ABC
News. ABC News Network, 24 Apr. 2013. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
<http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2013/04/24/los-angeles-tops-dirty-air-list-for-13th-
time-in-14-years/>.
O'Neill, Stephanie. "LA-area Has Nation's Worst Ozone, but Quality Is Improving."
KPCC. American Lung Association, 24 Apr. 2013. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.scpr.org/news/2013/04/24/36955/lung-association-state-of-the-air-report-la-
area-h/>
Rosenthal, Elisabeth. "Your Biggest Carbon Sin May Be Air Travel." The New York
Times. The New York Times, 26 Jan. 2013. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/27/sunday-review/the-biggest-carbon-sin-air-
travel.html?ref=elisabethrosenthal&_r=1&>.
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"Together We Can Control Asthma Now!" LBACA. Osorio Multimedia, 2014. Web. 18
Apr. 2014. <http://lbaca.org/>.
"Worst Smog Cities Slideshow: Air Pollution, Ozone, and Asthma." WebMD. Ed.
Brunilda Nazario. WebMD, 20 May 2013. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.webmd.com/asthma/ss/slideshow-worst-smog-cities>.
Yu, K.N, Y.P. Cheung, T. Cheung, and Ronald C. Henry. "Identifying the Impact of Large
Urban Airports on Local Air Quality by Nonparametric Regression." Science Direct.
Elsevier, Sept. 2004. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1352231004005229>.