WASHINGTON, May 2 (UPI) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Thursday proposed a reduction in the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for lead emissions.
The change, the first since 1978, would move the standard from 1.5 micrograms per cubic meter of air to 0.30 micrograms per cubic meter, the agency said.
A review of air quality standards was ordered by U.S. District Court in St. Louis in response to a lawsuit by the Missouri Coalition for the Environment in September 2005 over the levels of lead emitted by a lead smelter in Herculaneum, Mo.
Exposure to lead pollution is associated with damage to the central nervous system, cardiovascular system, kidneys, and red blood cells.
The Washington Post said environmentalists are critical of the proposal, saying that it doesn't go far enough. An independent scientific advisory panel and the EPA's scientific staff said the new standard should not exceed 0.20 micrograms of lead per cubic meter. EPA staff members said it could be set as low as 0.02 micrograms, the newspaper said.
| Additional News Stories | |
WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 (UPI) --
U.S. President Barack Obama emerged as the world's most powerful man in Forbes magazine's assessment of the world's most powerful people released Thursday.
|
NEW YORK, Nov. 12 (UPI) --
U.S. tennis great Andre Agassi bid farewell Wednesday night on "Late Show with David Letterman" to the mullet-style hairpiece he used to wear.
|
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Nov. 12 (UPI) --
The six astronauts who will be aboard space shuttle Atlantis on its STS-129 mission began their pre-launch activities at Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday.
|
|