This combustion results in the emission of dangerous air pollutants, posing serious threats to public health and the environment. For New Jersey citizens the health effects from fossil fuel combustion are of enormous concern.
New Jersey has the second worst air quality in the nation.
New Jersey's asthma sufferers are admitted to the emergency rooms 7-9 percent more frequently on summer days when ozone levels exceed federal standards according to a study by Dr. Paul Lioy of New Jersey's Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Based on studies by Dr. Arden Pope of the Harvard School of Public Health, the Environmental Protection Agency stated that tens of thousands of people are dying each year of heart and lung disease from exposure to legally unacceptable levels of particulate air pollutants, most of which come from fossil fuel combustion. According to researchers at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, there are record levels of mercury contamination in the fish of New Jersey's lakes and waterways. The Environmental Protection Agency has determined that coal and oil burning power plants are the largest source of mercury in our environment. The Department of Environmental Protection has advised pregnant woman, nursing mothers and children not to eat several varieties of New Jersey's freshwater fish because those fish are contaminated with mercury, that, when ingested, causes neurological damage to fetuses and young children.