EPA Issues Final PM Criteria Document, October 29, 2004
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released the final scientific assessment document on airborne particles, entitled the Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter.
The document provides the scientific basis for consideration of revisions to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).
The Criteria Document was subject to scientific peer review by the Clean Air Sceintific Advisory Committee.
It incorporates analysis and discussion of thousands of new scientific studies published since EPA last revised the PM standards in 1997.
The document underwent numerous rounds of review and revisions. The final version is written in a very cautious and conservative tone but the conclusions are inescapable: particulate matter is killing people and making them sick at concentrations well below the current standards.
The final PM Critieria Document — all 2,000 pages of it — is available from EPA [www.epa.gov/ncea] online.
Hard copies and a CD-ROM version may be requested from EPA’s National Service Center for Environmental Publications at: (800) 490-9198.
A critical set of tables were excised in the last round of review — those summarizing the key North American studies on morbidity and mortality and documenting the increased risks, and concentration levels at which adverse effects were observed.
For those tables, look for the Appendix of the June 2004 version of chapter 9 online.
The next step is for EPA to develop a second draft Staff Paper and Risk Assessment for public and peer review. The Staff Paper is due out in several months.
