The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has dramatically reduced the level of lead allowed in the air.
The new limit of just 0.15 micrograms per cubic meter (ug/m3) is ten times lower than the current limit of 1.5 ug/m3, which was set thirty years ago in 1978.
EPA Administrator, Stephen L Johnson, said in a news release: “America’s air is cleaner than a generation ago. With these stronger standards a new generation of Americans are being protected from harmful lead emissions.”
The EPA is currently redesigning the nation’s monitoring network so that it will be capable of ensuring that all states are complying with the new regulations. States have five years to ensure that they are meeting the new limit.
News release: US air quality standards for lead now ten times stronger. Environmental Protection Agency Website. October 16th 2008.
