Global Trends, Drivers in Consumption, Income-Based Emissions of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons.

[NNadir]

I overlooked this paper earlier in the year, but just got around to looking through it: Global Trends and Drivers in Consumption- and Income-Based Emissions of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Ruifei Li, Pei Hua, and Peter Krebs Environmental Science & Technology 2022 56 (1), 131-144

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are planar molecules that fit nicely into the minor grooves of DNA, leading to somatic mutations that in turn can and sometimes do lead to cancer.

The theory of exporting manufacturing to "developing countries" is very much involved with exploitation of low paid workers in them as well as the avoidance of environmental regulations. However, it turns out that the use of imported goods allows us to generate localized emissions of PAHs.

From the text of the introduction of the paper.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a group of the most hazardous substances of considerable concern due to their long-range transport and well-documented toxicity. (1−4) Evidence has demonstrated links with disease and illness, including stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, and both chronic and acute respiratory diseases, due to occupational and environmental exposure to PAHs. (3,5−9) It was reported, in 2007, that more than 204,600 people in the world had potentially contracted lung cancer due to inhalation of PAHs. (10) Thus, the United Nations Economic Commission has listed PAHs in the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants, and some PAHs are listed as carcinogens by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. (11−13) Therefore, reducing the levels of ambient PAHs is the key to reducing the burden of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases at local, national, and global levels.

The ubiquitous presence of PAHs in the atmosphere is dominated by the unavoidable byproducts of petrogenic and pyrogenic processes, which are strongly associated with various economic sectors. (14,15) Over the last few decades, globalization and international trade have connected worldwide economic sectors and have boosted global economic growth. However, international trade affects global air pollution and transport by redistributing emissions related to the production of goods and services and by potentially altering the total amount of global emissions. Therefore, it is important to characterize the global emission trend of PAHs and their driving force in different regions to optimize the mitigation strategy and reduce the adverse health impacts of PAH pollution.

In general, atmospheric emissions have been regarded as regional or local problems, whereby many countries have adopted environmental solutions to regional issues. (16) However, significant influences of the international trade have been proven to occur in many atmospheric emissions, such as CO2, (17−20) O3, (21) and PM2.5, (22,23) to name a few. It has been reported that 23% of global CO2 emissions were traded internationally, primarily as exports from the emerging markets to consumers in developed countries, in 2004. (24) In 2007, 22% of global PM2.5-induced premature deaths were associated with the international trade. (22) The international trade enables the goods and services produced in one region to be ultimately consumed in other regions. (25,26) In addition to consumptions, primary inputs provide financial supports to the production process to enable emissions to occur. (27) Thus, both the consumption and primary input play essential roles in transferring the emissions through supply chains. (27,28) In terms of PAH, most of the previous research studies focused on the source apportionment, (29−31) emission inventory, (14) and the influences of Chinese interregional trade from the consumption side. (32) It is reported that 70% of PAH emissions in China were related to the consumption in different provinces. (32) However, the PAH emissions resulting from the final consumption and primary input through international trade and the potential of global mitigation remain largely unexplored...

I'm not going to spend a lot of time I don't have writing about this paper, but I will reproduce a graphic from it that says quite a bit, Figure 4:



The caption:

Figure 4. Consumption-based and income-based net PAH emission flow patterns between worldwide regions (a,e) in 1999, (b,f) in 2004, (c,g) in 2009, and (d,h) in 2014. In each case, red shades represent the net importers whose consumption-based/income-based emissions are larger than production-based emissions, while blue shades represent the net exporters whose consumption-based/income-based emissions are lower than production-based emissions. The arrows represent the net exported emissions between two regions, and the size of the arrow represents the amount of net flow. The total net flow between regions is presented in the bottom-left corner.

A lot of what we, in the rich countries, export is of course, tragedy.

I rale against a related issue to that discussed in this paper a lot because I can't get it out of my mind, the enslaved cobalt miners in Africa who suffer horribly so we can make batteries and declare ourselves, in the comfort of our McMansions, "green." (It's interesting to me that Elon Musk is a white guy from South Africa, where, when he was a boy, one learned to not give a shit about indigenous Africans. He was 19 when Nelson Mandela was released from prison; 23 when Nelson Mandela was elected President of South Africa; he emigrated.)

Don't worry; be happy. Watch reruns of the Superbowl half-time show and tell yourself you're a good person.