ER Asthma Visits Dropped After A Big Pittsburgh Polluter Shut Down

"PITTSBURGH — Dawn Winters never had trouble breathing before she moved to Pittsburgh's Bellevue neighborhood in 2014, but within a year her doctor diagnosed her with asthma and prescribed a daily medication to keep her airways open.

Winters grew up in New Jersey and moved to Pittsburgh for graduate school at Carnegie Mellon University in 2008. She and her husband were renting an apartment on the other side of town in Regent Square, had a new baby, and were looking to buy a home when their real estate agent sent them a news article about the appeal of Bellevue for young families. It looked perfect—close to downtown with a walkable main street lined with small businesses, and Victorian houses that were spacious but affordable.

No one told her it was also downwind of one of the largest polluters in the county."

Kristina Marusic reports for Environmental Health News May 8, 2018.

Source: EHN, 05/09/2018