Alex Sagady has posted the note below on a Michigan-wide e-mail list. It essentially says that current Clean Air Act standards for three regulated pollutants don't protect kids' health. The theme here has been clear for years but largely unaddressed in our environmental policies: kids are more vulnerable to pollution than adults because of their small size, developing organs, and natural behavior. But we're pitting their health against the right of polluters to foul the air. Too often the latter wins.
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The American Academy of Pediatrics' Committee on Environmental Health has
published an important new policy statement on "Ambient Air Pollution:
Health Hazards to Children" which finds that there are adverse health
effects at levels near or below the current standards for ozone,
particulate matter, and nitrogen dioxide, and concludes that the 1997 NAAQS
may not adequately protect children.
Specifically, the Policy Statement finds that the current annual and
24-hour NAAQS for PM2.5 and PM10 should be lowered to protect public
health, based on recent scientific studies.
In addition, the policy statement cites several studies demonstrating that
ozone may be toxic at concentrations lower than the current 8-hour NAAQS,
and suggests that the ozone standards may need to be revised if these
studies are confirmed.
The Statement makes further specific recommendations on need to set air
quality standards with a margin of safety to protect against the potential
effects of air pollution on the fetus, infant, and child.
Additional recommendations address the need for specific control strategies
to reduce children's exposure to criteria air pollutants and toxic air
pollutants, specifically mercury and diesel.
The policy statement is available
at:
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/114/6/1699
In an accompanying article, Dr. Michael W. Shannon, the chair of the AAP
Committee on Environmental Health states: "The revised standards [1997
NAAQS for ozone and PM] will protect children better than the previous
standards but they still won't be adequate."
This is strong stuff from the most credible of environmental health
authorities -- the pediatricians.
--
Deborah Shprentz
Consultant to the American Lung Association