EPA tightens lead standards

WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it has dramatically strengthened the nation's air quality standards for lead.

The new standards, changed for the first time in 30 years, tighten the allowable lead level 10 times to 0.15 micrograms of lead per cubic meter of air. The previous standards, set in 1978, were 1.5 micrograms per cubic meter of air.

"America's air is cleaner than a generation ago," EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson said Thursday in a statement. "With these stronger standards a new generation of Americans are being protected from harmful lead emissions."

The EPA said lead emissions have dropped nearly 97 percent nationwide since 1980, largely because of the phase-out of lead in gasoline.