Lung Health News, Spring/Summer 2006
The American Lung Association is advocating for tougher federal particle pollution (PM) standards to protect lung health. Association representatives, including 10-year-old Jonah Ramirez, told air regulators at a March 8 hearing in San Francisco – one of three cities in the U.S. where hearings were held – that the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed PM standards fall far short of what is necessary to protect public health.
The EPA’s proposal is a once-in-a-decade opportunity to tighten federal air standards, which drive state and local air quality plans and regulations.
The agency reviewed more than 2,000 studies showing the tiny particles threaten the lives of thousands of Americans each year. Based on overwhelming evidence of death and disease caused by exposure to soot and other particles, the American Lung Association, the EPA’s own staff scientists, and the agency’s independent scientific review panel called for much tighter limits.
