Asians face highest risk of early death from oil and gas air pollution, study shows

Air pollution from oil and gas operations causes about 91,000 premature deaths in the United States each year, with Asians, Black, Hispanic and Native American communities bearing the greatest health burdens, a new study found.

The research, based on 2017 data and published Aug. 22 in Science Advances, links oil and gas emissions to more than 200,000 new cases of childhood asthma, over 10,000 preterm births and 1,600 lifetime cancer cases annually. The team noted that their estimates are likely conservative given a 40% increase in U.S. oil and gas production and an 8% rise in consumption between 2017 and 2023.

The study found that Asian and Black populations are disproportionately affected by downstream refining and end-use combustion, while Native American and Hispanic communities face the greatest impacts from upstream activities such as drilling and extraction.
The analysis also showed that Black and Asian groups experience the largest overall health disparities from exposure to particulate matter and ozone.

Asians were found to be uniquely vulnerable to nitrogen dioxide and hazardous air pollutants produced during fuel processing and combustion. The findings align with the 2023 Female Asian Non-Smoker (FANS) study, led by the University of California Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, which found that 57% of Asian American women diagnosed with lung cancer had never smoked.

California and Texas account for a significant share of the national health burden from oil and gas air pollution, where Asian and Black residents were found to be especially vulnerable due to their proximity to refineries and petrochemical plants.

California’s San Joaquin Valley, a hub for oil production, agriculture and warehouse distribution, suffers some of the nation’s worst fine-particle pollution. Texas has over 1,300 major methane leak sites identified statewide, with counties Reagan, Howard, Loving and Midland found to have the highest concentration of emissions, affecting more than 126,000 people living within two miles of these sources.

The study’s release comes as the Trump administration moves to expand fossil fuel production while rolling back regulations on renewable energy. Environmental advocates have raised concerns that such policies could worsen the health and environmental impacts already identified in the research.

Marais said she hoped the findings would be “picked up by the kinds of community leaders and advocacy groups that are pushing for exposure to cleaner air.” She added, “If there was a move away from reliance on oil and gas, we would experience the climate change benefits 50, 100, 200 years from today because the greenhouse gases stay in the atmosphere so long. But communities would experience the health benefits immediately.”