Health effects of ethanol use…and i’m not talking liver disease
April 24th, 2007 by Kishore
Ethanol is touted as the short term fuel of the future…the clean burning biofuel. A new study calls into question the potential benefits of switching to ethanol, specifically E85 gasoline (85% EtOH, 15% gasoline).
Mark Jacobson, an environmental engineering professor at Stanford, published a study in the journal Environmental Science and Technology detailing possible health effects including cancer by 2020.
Note: The study was based on corn based ethanol usage for its determination of total carbon output.
The carcinogens of biggest concern from gasoline are benzene and butadiene. With E85, these are reduced, but since there is still 15% gasoline, they are not eliminated. According to the study, cancer rates would stay relatively the same, potentially a slight decrease.
When ethanol (CH3CH2OH) does not burn fully, formaldehyde (H2CO) and acetaldehyde (CH3CHO) form. That’s bad. They are precursors to ozone formulation. Ozone is great in the atmosphere, but on the ground its a carcinogen. It’s causes asthma, even deaths in the case of the elderly. Ozone is the fun component that triggers all of those “Spare the air” days in the summer.
One important note from the study, there are many regional effects at play here. Los Angeles would see a bigger increase in ozone that any other part of the country, mainly because of other reactive substances released into the air (the ratio of NOx and reactive organic gases affect the levels of ozone). On the other hand, the southeast would see a decrease in ozone levels.
It’s an interesting study. It shines a light on our need to study other affects of moving towards a new fuel. The overall increase in ozone levels is not massive (9% in LA), the potential benefits of switching to ethanol (lower carbon emissions and fuel independence) seem to outweigh. Still, it’s a cautionary tale. The ethanol silver bullet is a bit overstated.
Check out Mark’s interview with On the Media.
An ES&T article on the study by Erika Engelhaupt
Mark on Science Friday
This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 24th, 2007 at 2:18 pm and is filed under Biofuels. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.