Really? We are in a battle for real food, clean air, unpolluted water, and now this…data monsters. Below, I examine why this is the next nightmare for children and how to be on the winning side.
In my humble pediatric opinion, this is the hill we must climb together. Once they are here, they will not be undone. In the following article, I will outline my research on how these childhood nightmares will ruin our children’s well-being, and are unable to be pulled back once they are assembled.
Take heart. There are many community wins and I’ve put together the plan to fight them based on what we learned from the Tobacco/Monsanto playbook. Tobacco was stopped. Monsanto/Bayer is 12 billion in the hole and will be stopped, too.
This is what I’ve learned…
Air Pollution: Diesel Generators and Fossil Fuel Backend
Fuel courage, not data centers.
Every data center has on-site diesel backup generators and they are massive ones. They test them regularly and run them during grid stress (I needed to look this one up: when demand for electricity pushes up against or exceeds what the grid can supply).
These emit:
PM 2.5 (fine particulate matter): penetrates deep into lungs, crosses into the bloodstream. Linked to asthma, heart disease, and premature death.
NOₓ (nitrogen oxides): respiratory irritant, contributes to ground-level ozone.
Air pollution is the leading environmental cause of death and disease in children globally, responsible for roughly 1 in 10 deaths of children under five, approximately 600,000 per year. No other environmental toxicant, not lead, not pesticides, not contaminated water, approaches that toll. Children breathe twice as much air per pound of body weight as adults, their lungs are still developing, and the damage is often permanent. When a data center's diesel generators and upstream power plants pump PM2.5 and NOₓ into the air, children are the population that pays the highest price.
One analysis of a single data center in Loudoun County, Virginia estimated $53–99 million per year in health damages from PM 2.5 alone, including 3.4–6.5 additional premature deaths annually. Over 30 years: 102–195 deaths. The highest exposure increases hit census tracts with elevated Social Vulnerability Index scores, meaning poorer communities and communities of color.
Modeling studies project that by the late 2020s, U.S. data centers could be responsible for roughly 1,300 premature deaths and up to 600,000 asthma symptom cases annually, with a public health burden approaching $20 billion per year.
Is anyone in the White House listening?
And that’s just the on-site generators.
The electricity powering these facilities comes from fossil fuel plants (coal, gas, oil) that emit the same pollutants upstream. Data centers consumed over 4% of U.S. electricity in 2023, with projections reaching 12% by 2028. Every server rack is a smokestack somewhere else.
Again, our children are the highest-risk group: developing lungs, higher respiration rates, and more time outdoors. PM 2.5 exposure in childhood is linked to:
Development of asthma
Reduced lung function and growth
Increased respiratory infections
Neurodevelopmental impacts
Noise Pollution: The 24/7 Hum That Never Stops
Cooling fans, pumps, HVAC systems, backup generators run 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This isn’t occasional noise and it’s permanent. I’ve not been privy to hear these centers personally for which I am grateful, however, anecdotally people have shared with me the horror and physical discomfort of the noise.
The noise is often described as a constant low-frequency hum or high-pitched whine that travels farther than typical environmental sounds. Residents report hearing it 2 to 4.5 miles away in quiet rural areas. The low-frequency and infrasonic components (below ~20 Hz) aren’t always “heard” conventionally, but are experienced as pressure, vibration, and have a rumbling quality. They can penetrate walls and buildings more easily than higher-frequency noise.