New research reveals that fine particle air pollution from plants burning fossil fuels to make electricity was the cause of about 16,000 premature deaths in the United States during 2014.

In addition, the researchers found that while average exposures were higher for lower-income groups than they were for higher-income ones, racial disparity was more marked than income disparity.

Exposures were higher among black people and non-Latino white people than among other groups, such as Asian, Native American, or Latino people.

Emissions resulted in around seven premature deaths per 100,000 among black people and six per 100,000 among non-Latino white people. The average for other races was around four premature deaths per 100,000 people.

Another key finding was the large difference between the location of electricity generation and where the health consequences occurred.

"Some states are net exporters of health impacts, other[s] are net importers," conclude the researchers in a recent Environmental Science & Technology paper on the study.

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