Scientists Say Smog Standards Aren’t Tough Enough
An EPA scientific advisory panel has unanimously recommended that the United States adopt much stronger air quality standards for ozone smog. The Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) concluded that the standard “needs to be substantially reduced: and that there is “no scientific justification” for retaining the current standard. The standards — which establish safe levels of pollution in the air — are undergoing review by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
According to the October 24, 2006 letter filed by CASAC, adverse health effects ranging from impaired lung function, worsened respiratory symptoms, exacerbations in asthma, increased emergency department visits and premature deaths are occurring at concentrations at and below the current standards.
The science advisors’ letter was made public today and is posted at: http://www.epa.gov/sab/panels/casacorpanel.html
The 23-member panel unanimously recommended that EPA lower the eight-hour ozone standard of 0.08 ppm to between 0.070 ppm and 0.060 ppm to protect public health with an adequate margin of safety.
The letter unequivocally states: “There is no scientific justification for retaining the current primary 8-hour NAAQS of 0.08 parts per million (ppm), and the primary 8-hour NAAQS need to be substantially reduced to protect human health, particularly in sensitive populations.”
It is highly unusual for the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee to issue such clear and unanimous recommendations on the level and form of the standard.
The CASAC recommendations clearly reject the option of retaining the existing standard of 0.08 ppm because it is not health protective. The letter states: “Retaining this standard would continue to put large numbers of individuals at risk for respiratory effects and/or significant impact on quality of life including asthma exacerbations, emergency room visits, hospital admissions and mortality.”
The Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee is chartered by Congress and charged with reviewing the scientific basis for EPA’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards. The panel has reviewed thousands of pages of EPA reports summarizing the new science on the health and environmental effects of ozone. The ozone panel is made up of 23 leading doctors and scientists with expertise in air pollution monitoring, medicine, toxicology, epidemiology, clinical studies, dosimetry, biostatistics and other relevant disciplines.
Under the Clean Air Act, the air quality standards must be set at levels that will protect public health with an adequate margin of safety to protect the health of sensitive populations. In the case of ozone, sensitive groups include infants, children, people with asthma or other respiratory problems, and people who work or exercise outdoors.
The smog standards were last revised in 1997. EPA is under a consent decree to issue a final staff paper by January 5, 2007, to propose revisions to the ozone standards by May 30, 2007, and to issue final standards by February 20, 2008.
