EPA Sets New Standard for Airborne Lead Particles
Posted by Administrator (admin) on Oct 22 2008 at 1:27 PM
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WASHINGTON – In order to slash the amount of the toxic metal in the nation’s air by 90 percent, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Thursday set a new health standard for airborne lead particles.

EPA officials, under a federal court order to set a new standard, said the new limit would better protect public health, particularly for children.

Lead’s toxicity has been known for more than a century. Exposure to even low levels of lead early in life can have an adverse effect on learning, IQ and memory in children. Lead may potentially cause adult cardiovascular, blood pressure and kidney problems.

Stephen Johnson, the EPA administrator, expressed his gratitude to the new standard.

“Our nation’s air is cleaner today than just a generation ago, and last night I built upon this progress by signing the strongest air quality standards for lead in our nation's history. Thanks to this stronger standard, EPA will protect my children from remaining sources of airborne lead,” he said.

“With these stronger standards, a new generation of Americans is being protected from harmful lead emissions,” he said.

The new standards set the limits for exposure at 0.15 micrograms per cubic meter of air. This is the first update to the lead standard since 1978. The new standard is 10 times lower than the current standard, which was 1.5 micrograms per cubic meter.

The new standard will force the 16,000 remaining sources of lead, including metal mines, smelters, and waste incinerators, to trim down their lead releases.

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