EPA Should Listen to Its Scientists
Statement of John L. Kirkwood
President and Chief Executive Officer
American Lung Association
On the release of the
Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee Recommendations
On Revisions to the National Ozone Standards
New York, NY, October 25, 2006 – The American Lung Association applauds the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) for clearly and unanimously recommending that the United States adopt much stronger air quality standards for ozone smog. The CASAC concluded the standard “needs to be substantially reduced” and that there is “no scientific justification” for retaining the current standard.
We urge the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to follow the advice of these scientists, who make up the agency’s own independent panel of scientific advisors, and propose standards that truly protect public health.
Just last month, the EPA ignored the recommendations of the CASAC committee when setting the air quality standards for particulate matter. Should EPA fail to follow the CASAC recommendations for ozone, public health will suffer needlessly. National air quality standards define the official limits of air pollution that the federal government believes is safe for people to breathe, including those who are most vulnerable to the harm air pollution can create. The standards drive most of the work that communities around the nation do to clean up air pollution.
The 23-member CASAC panel unanimously recommended that EPA lower the eight-hour ozone standard of 0.08 parts per million (ppm) to between 0.070 ppm and 0.060 ppm to protect public health with an adequate margin of safety.
New research tells us that ozone is even more dangerous than we had previously thought—that it can even kill. Adverse health effects ranging from impaired lung function, respiratory symptoms and aggravated asthma to emergency department visits and premature death are occurring when ozone concentrations are at and below the current standards.
EPA Should Listen to Its Scientists: Smog Standards Aren’t Tough Enough
New York, NY, October 25, 2006 – The American Lung Association applauds the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) for clearly and unanimously recommending that the United States adopt much stronger air quality standards for ozone smog. The CASAC concluded the standard “needs to be substantially reduced” and that there is “no scientific justification” for retaining the current standard.
We urge the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to follow the advice of these scientists, who make up the agency’s own independent panel of scientific advisors, and propose standards that truly protect public health.
Just last month, the EPA ignored the recommendations of the CASAC committee when setting the air quality standards for particulate matter. Should EPA fail to follow the CASAC recommendations for ozone, public health will suffer needlessly. National air quality standards define the official limits of air pollution that the federal government believes is safe for people to breathe, including those who are most vulnerable to the harm air pollution can create. The standards drive most of the work that communities around the nation do to clean up air pollution.
The 23-member CASAC panel unanimously recommended that EPA lower the eight-hour ozone standard of 0.08 parts per million (ppm) to between 0.070 ppm and 0.060 ppm to protect public health with an adequate margin of safety.
New research tells us that ozone is even more dangerous than we had previously thought—that it can even kill. Adverse health effects ranging from impaired lung function, respiratory symptoms and aggravated asthma to emergency department visits and premature death are occurring when ozone concentrations are at and below the current standards.
