A new study builds an even stronger case for setting pollution controls at PM 2.5 to prevent increased risk of diabetes. The EPA's clean air regulations set a threshold much less restrictive than that level.
Olga Khazan reports: "It’s fairly well known that a bad diet, a lack of exercise, and genetics can all contribute to type 2 diabetes. But a new global study points to an additional, surprising culprit: the air pollution emitted by cars and trucks."
The study, published in the journal Lancet Planetary Health, builds on previous research with a larger study and additional controls (more on the methodology is included in the article). "What’s more, it also quantifies exactly how many diabetes cases in the world are attributable to air pollution: 14 percent in 2016 alone. In the United States, it found, air pollution is responsible for 150,000 cases of diabetes," according to Khazan.
The findings of the report suggest that current U.S. clean air regulations don't go far enough. Despite that concern, Khazan adds in more detail, the Trump Administration is moving in the opposite direction on clean air regulations.
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