Last updated on July 21, 2025
While smoking is the number one cause of lung and bronchus cancer (LBC), environmental factors are causing the rates among non-smokers to increase.
The main environmental hazards that affect Philadelphia are…
- Radon
- Diesel particulate matter
- Superfund site proximity
- Traffic density
- Construction work
Only 28% of lung cancer in Philadelphia is explained solely by smoking. The most affected neighborhoods in Philadelphia, shown in color in the map below, all have traffic density as a prominent risk factor for lung cancer. All gas-powered vehicles release exhaust that includes known carcinogens. With high numbers of cars on the road, exposure to this exhaust is severe in urban areas.
Additionally, in two of the neighborhoods (Snyder-Whitman and Richmond-Bridesburg), superfund proximity is also a prominent risk factor. Superfund sites are places that are extremely hazardous to human health due to chemical spills, previous industry waste, or other hazardous waste, that are recommended for cleanup by the EPA. An interactive map of superfund sites in the United States can be found here.
Franklin Slag Pile:
Near the Richmond-Bridesburg area, the Franklin Slag Pile is a superfund site on the Delaware River that was the previous site of Franklin Smelting and Refining. Slag is a byproduct of this industry and contains heavy metals such as beryllium, cadmium, and lead. As of 2025, this site has not been cleaned up.
Read more here
Publicker Industries:
Near the Snyder-Whitman area, Publicker Industries was a former alcohol distillery that was shut down and then fell into a state of neglect, causing chemicals to leech into the soil around the facility. This superfund site contains many chemicals including acetone, acetic acid, ethanol, and isopropyl alcohol. The site was abandoned in 1986 after an explosion that killed two workers, a site restoration plan was created in 2006, and was cleaned up. However, people who lived in the area pre-2006 may still feel effects from the site as exposure to these chemicals may be a risk factor for many diseases later in life.
Read more here and here
Map and data created by Tesla Dubois, Christina Rosan, Caroline Burkholder, and Shannon M. Lynch for their project “From Smoking to Superfund Sites: An Ecologic Investigation into Associations between Environmental Factors and Lung Cancer Mortality Rates in Philadelphia.”
Learn more from their poster below!
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