LOS ANGELES, May 2 (Xinhua) -- The Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) planned to adopt a more stringent health standard for
airborne lead to protect the nation's children, the Los Angeles Times said on
Friday.
Under the long-awaited proposal, the amount of lead
allowed in the air would be dramatically lower than the current limit, which was
adopted 30 years ago, reported the paper.
Nationally, airborne lead has dropped nearly 98
percent since the original standard prompted the phase-out of leaded gasoline.
Under the new proposal, the EPA will set a new
standard within the range of 0.10 to 0.30 micrograms of lead per cubic meter of
air. The current standard is 1.5 micrograms, said the report.
The new proposal is "up to 93 percent stronger" than
the current standard, said Marcus C. Peacock, the EPA's deputy administrator,
who added that it would "keep clean-air progress moving forward."
Under the EPA's new proposal, as many as 23 counties
could be thrown out of compliance, which means local officials there would have
to adopt new regulations for smelters, foundries, mines and other industries.
Two years ago, the EPA was under fire from
environmentalists and some members of Congress for including in its review the
option of eliminating the lead standard. A coalition of U.S. battery makers had
urged the agency to remove lead from its list of air pollutants.
Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA is required every
five years to review health standards for six major air pollutants, including
lead. But the agency repeatedly missed its deadlines, and environmental groups
in Missouri sued, winning a court order that required a proposal by Thursday,
the report said.
Inhaling or ingesting small doses of the metal can
damage developing nervous systems, reducing children's IQs and causing learning
disabilities and behavior problems. Since the original standard was adopted,
numerous scientific studies have shown that children's brains are altered at
much lower levels of lead in the bloodstream than previously
thought.
